Bring Me Hope
by WhiteFang Uchiha
Summary: He tried his best, but it was never good enough. He wanted to stop being in the dark, but it came back to haunt him whenever he tried to leave. That's when she came. Rated M for lemons, language, and violence. I do not own Naruto or any other properties named in this story.
1. No Light In Me

The cool air of San Francisco brushed against my face while raking itself through my head. I stood there on the pier and glanced at my watch. 10:37 night sky surrounded me while the moon bathed me in its  
light. The numerous aromas filled my nostrils as I exhaled. The sound of music played from my phone, interrupting the blissful silence I had loved so much.

"Uchiha," I answered nonchalantly.

"Do you always have to sound so stoic?"

"Do you always have to disturb my peace?" Kakashi chuckled before addressing the business he had to share with me.

"I wanted you to know that Ino had a message for you, again." I sighed in annoyance and closed my eyes.

"You called me at 10:37 at night to tell me some girl wanted to leave me a damn message while I'm working?"

"To be fair, its 1:37 AM here in beautiful Jacksonville."

"I'm hanging up now."

"Don't get too drunk or get a girl pregnant." With that, I ended the call and whispered to the heavens, "Please stay quiet."

I turned back into the hotel I was staying at, A Hilton. The Hotel towered over the other buildings in the vicinity, all small businesses and restaurants. I shoved my phone into the pocket of my gray  
sweatpants and walked inside.

I walked past the lobby, seeing only one man there. I could tell he was in his 40s through his graying hair. He was married and wore a slightly worn down coat, probably a middle-class family man, the normal type.

I wasn't that type of person.

Years of Academy, Police work, Detective work, made me into the 24-year old FBI agent that I was. I finished my Academy Work by the time I was 18 years old, from then on, I worked with my best friend Naruto as a cop and detective. He didn't get an offer from the FBI like I did, which really annoyed him. I made sure to remind him ever so often if he ever got on my nerves. Still, he was a good detective, and Jacksonville was in good hands with him. Kakashi was the leader of the precinct, as well as the man who adopted me and cared for me for 11 years of my life. Besides those two, I had a small group of friends who also worked at the precinct and a couple of guys at the FBI Office I considered friends, but that was the extent of my social life.

I walked into the elevator, when it finally came down to the lobby after ages to be greeted by a woman on her phone.

She instantly stopped talking once her eyes laid on me. Her black hair tumbled down to her back and her slim body seemed to immediately reshape itself once she caught sight of me. She fixed her stance so that her ass was hanging out, making it look bigger than it was, and she rest an arm beneath her chest to push out her assets. She was a pretty girl, but I didn't really care much for pretty girls who flaunted themselves for me. They were only good for fucking my pain away, nothing else.

That outlook rubbed Naruto the wrong way, but its not like it wasn't true. Its not that I thought of women as objects, its just that I have so much...darkness inside me that I would really be doing them a disservice by pretending to care. So when the girl turned her attention to me with her brown eyes and her tanned skin, lips curved into a seductive smile. All I could think was, "I could use some stress relief".

So no, I didn't feel a spark, or some warm, fuzzy feeling like they say you get on TV. I just kissed her and pinned her into the walls of the elevator until she led me into her room.

She murmured some things that I didn't really care about, all I did was throw her onto the bed and fuck her. I kept going until I felt myself nearing completion. I thrust harder as she finished and leaked herself onto me. I was still a little while from my own climax, so I hurried and increased the strength of my thrusts so that I didn't have to stay in her room for any longer than I had to. One thrust. The sound of a gunshot. Two thrusts. Another shot ringing in the dark. Three thrusts. The blood pooling on the ground. Final thrust. Me collapsing at the sight of my older brother running away. I spilled myself into her as quickly as I could before throwing my clothes on, ignoring her cries.

"Hey! I don't even know your name!" I didn't utter a word as I exited her room, leaving a confused and tired girl in my wake. I walked to the elevator and quickly pushed the button to my floor. I pulled out my key and swiped, only to be rejected by the door.

"Fucking thing," I cursed. I swiped three more times before the damn thing finally gave in. I pushed the door open and threw my clothes into the table while kicking off my shoes. I collapsed in my bed and in a couple of moments, sleep came and took me.

* * *

"Hands up!" I pointed my pistol at the coated man. He slowly put his hands in the air and turned to face me. The face I saw almost made me drop my weapon. The long hair tied into a ponytail, the creases in his face, the cold, emotionless eyes that haunted me to this very day. Itachi Uchiha.

"Sasuke, its been a while," he uttered and that steely voice of his to match his emotionless expression.

"B-brother…" I trailed off before regaining my senses. "You're under arrest!" I moved in to cuff him, but then, everything changed.

All of the sudden, the gun wasn't in my hands. I was frozen in time, my body refused to cooperate with me.

All I could do was stare as Itachi's hands closed around my throat and slammed me into the wall behind me, knocking the air from my lungs. I was 7 again, and my tiny limbs did nothing to protect me from Itachi's assault. I felt my vision go black as Itachi's vice grip on my throat took the very life from me.

"You are a disgrace," he whispered.

I shot up out of my bed in cold sweat and panting harshly. I gasped for air, greedily taking in as much as I could to steady my breathing.

I sat there for minutes, gathering myself until I felt that I could get out of bed and into the shower. The warm water instantly soothed my tense shoulders and I let it all on me for minutes, absorbing the warmth and telling myself that the nightmare I had wasn't real, just an illusion, a simple trick. The flow of water stopped soon after and I dried myself before slipping into a hoodie and jeans. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and quietly ate it while replying to some texts from my friends.

My phone rang and the Caller ID flashed the name: Naruto.

"Yeah?" I muttered through spoonfuls.

"Who's the best wide receiver in the league?" I swallowed my cereal before answering, "Julio Jones."

"Ha! I knew it! Eat shit, Kiba!" I couldn't help but let an amused smirk creep onto my face while listening to the idiot argue with Kiba.

"So how goes the search?" He asked me a couple of moments later.

"Fine. I got the guy already, I'm just staying an extra day because I want some peace."

"You have plenty of that here!"

"You literally screamed that sentence."

"Hmph!"

"You just crossed your arms, didn't you?"

"No! But I wish you would hurry up, my dad's birthday is soon, and you better be there!"

"You know I wouldn't miss Minato's birthday, idiot."

"Good, then I'll see you soon asshole."

"Bye, idiot."

I washed the dishes and put the cereal away before turning on the TV as background noise while I packed.

The news had the usual stories, a car crash, a kidnapping, a missing dog, the usual. I listened to it while throwing my clothes and other belongings into my bag while texting Naruto about what he should get his dad for his 47th birthday.

I finished packing and Naruto decided to get his dad a new phone.

Problems solved.

I sat down on my bed and stared out of the window from my 14th floor view.

I could see the busy, yet calm streets beneath me. Vendors selling things to the tourists, cars passing by calmly, and most of all, the vast ocean, filled with yachts and boats, yet still serene.

I closed my eyes and laid back, letting the calm air fill my lungs for a quick minute before grabbing my earphones and plugging them into my phone. I walked to the elevator and turned on some music, lightly tapping my thighs to the beat. A couple of girls ogled at me while I walked through the lobby, but I paid them no heed. Instead, I exited the Hilton and walked around, observing and taking in every detail.

I saw a man with some long hairs on his shorts, probably a dog owner. I saw another man standing at a bus stop while tapping his arms with his fingers, probably a smoker. I saw a woman who was talking on the phone with someone with a book under her arm, probably a college student. The profiler in me never quit, its like someone took the off switch and threw it out. I calmly walked around, noting the houses around me and the people around. I stopped when I saw some kids in an alleyway, probably smoking weed or something illegal. I decided to move on, its not like I didn't do the same thing when I was their age, so why bother?

Eventually, I made it back to the hotel and watched TV for a few hours, killing time until my flight. Once the clock hit 5 PM, I gathered my things and exited my room. I laid my key down at the front desk, ignoring the "come again" the man behind the desk gave me. The cab I called got me to the airport quickly and within 20 minutes, I was through security and on my way to the gate.

"45A," I muttered to myself while looking at the signs and keeping myself focused on my music so I didn't need to talk to anyone. I walked past some stores and other gates before stopping at a Villa to get a pizza. Pizza was one of my favorite food because of the tomato sauce in it, I had a thing for tomatoes. The two slices I ordered were quickly no more as I wiped my hands clean and proceeded to my gate right in time for boarding. Thank god, I didn't want to wait any longer than necessary to board the plane. The flight back consisted of me napping and watching some of my shows on Netflix that I had downloaded prior to boarding, I like to stay prepared. Sherlock was my favorite, naturally, the detective in me loved watching Cumberbatch at work.

The flight eventually landed back in my home of Jacksonville, though home was always a good place to return to. I quickly grabbed my one bag and made my way out of the aircraft and eventually outside. I took my earphones out when I saw a familiar face greet me with a wave.

"Nice to see you again, Grey Goose."

"Not bad to see you, dog." Kiba laughed and led me to his car. He always called me Grey Goose since it was my favorite Vodka, and I called him dog because of his love for, well, dogs.

Not that hard to understand.

Once we got rolling he started asking about San Fran. "How was it?"

"Same weather, good bars, pretty place."

"You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"The girls were nice there, but they weren't anything special."

"Like you didn't get some."

"Of course I did, but you know me."

"Course I do, the cold Uchiha only fucks for fun."

"I wish it was fun," I thought to myself quietly. We pulled up to my apartment building and Kiba bid me farewell.

"SASUKE!" Naruto engulfed me in a bear hug, almost knocking me over. Loud motherfucker always was in my ear, annoying me about whatever crossed his mind, though it was pretty funny sometimes. Naruto was one of those loudmouth people, but when you needed him to listen and have a serious conversation, he was there, he was one of the reasons I made it through my parents' deaths. He was still annoying, though.

"Get off me," I mumbled before shoving him off. His whiskers curved down and his lips turned into a pout like a little kid. I shouldered past him and into the apartment building, hoping that I could get to my 3rd story sanctuary before Naruto could bother me some more. The only problem was, his abode was right next to mine.

"So get this, one of the guys at the station…" I tuned him out while he rambled on about some cop that gambled away $500 to Kakashi and whatever else he wanted to say. The way Kakashi ran things was always...different, not in an illegal way, more of Kakashi being really laid back and indulging in simple things like gambling and sex whenever he wanted, and he wasn't shy about sharing his experiences. He was always a different kind of leader, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Man knew what to do in most situations and always kept a calm mind.

I shoved my key into the door of my apartment and tried slamming the door in Naruto's face only for him to stop it with his leg.

"Ow! Asshole!" I gave him an amused smirk before opening the door and letting him invade my place. It wasn't much, plain apartment with light blue walls and a couple of posters hanging on by way of thumbtack. The couch showed a little wear and tear from mine and Naruto's scuffles as well our constant jumping during Sunday's football games. I had 1 chair at the small dining table that looked brand new because I usually just ate on the couch while watching TV. The kitchen was relatively small, but it did the job whenever I needed to cook for myself or a rare guest. My main attraction was my bedroom, largely in part because I loved my bed. It was really comfy and I could sleep there well when my brain wasn't plagued with nightmares. The bathroom was simple: sink, shower, toilet, not much to it other than that. I liked the place, rich and extravagant never suited me and my lifestyle, plus I made 90k a year, not really enough to live rich and extravagant anyways.

I went to the bathroom and turned on the sink after throwing my things onto the floor. The cold water I splashed onto my face gave me a feeling of ecstasy, sometimes I liked to enjoy the little things of life. I took off my shirt and walked out of the bathroom to see Naruto settled on the couch already with Netflix on already. I quickly unpacked my things and took a towel before heading to the bathroom.

"This show Daredevil is really good!" He exclaimed in excitement, drawing another amused smirk from me. I stripped off my clothes and entered the shower, one of my safe places. I could hear Naruto gasping and shouting in excitement, almost drawing a laugh from me. Daredevil was a good show, it depicted the gritty side of the law well, even if it was from a vigilante's standpoint and not a law officer's.

A lot of people tend to think that being an FBI Agent or even a detective is like being on Criminal Minds, if only it was that easy. Criminals can be easy, robbing a store without a mask, dealing drugs in the most obvious places, simple criminals were easy. But serial killers, the ones I chased, were a whole different story. They killed with meaning, with purpose, like someone put them on this Earth for one reason: kill, and then kill again.

In the beginning, when I was still a Jacksonville PD detective, catching one was hard for me and Naruto. We had never seen something like our first dead body before, and quite frankly, it scared me.

50 stab wounds.

Precise. Deadly. Bloody.

The dead woman's blood coated the grass nearby, turning it from green to a sickly crimson. Her eyes had been ripped clean out of the sockets, that alone made Naruto empty the contents of his stomach. Kakashi had said that you always remember your first the best. I thought he was talking about sex, but I was wrong and completely unprepared for the violence that was laid out in front of me, in front of the world.

I turned off the shower and dried myself before slipping into a tank top and a pair of black shorts. I left my hair alone because no matter what I did, it would always end up its messy self. Kakashi had said it was one of the reasons girls threw themselves at me, but like I said before, didn't really make a difference to me. When I stepped out, Naruto was still in front of the TV, a plate of Bagel Bites next to him.

"I left yours in the microwave," he muttered, still fixated on the show in front of him.

"Hn," I grunted in response before moving to the microwave and retrieving my 9 circles of cheesy goodness. What can I say, I'm addicted to anything with tomato sauce. I also lived off mostly microwavable food, so its not like I had a lot of options.

Sometimes I would eat plain tomatoes to satiate my hunger, plain freaking tomatoes.

I moved to the couch and sat next to Naruto, watching the show along with him. I had already seen it, but Naruto seemed to be enjoying it a lot, so I let him be. The scene that was playing was Frank Castle, The Punisher, splattering the blood of prisoners across the wall and on the floor. Gore. Crimson liquid. Slit throats. I was used to way worse.

"Wow…" Naruto's eyes widened at the sight before him, absorbing every inch of detail as if it would disappear if he didn't.

"Reminds you of the Weston Case, doesn't it?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. He grinned at me and nodded.

"All the blood and bodies, remember when we took down that son of a bitch?" I smirked at the memory. Jameson Weston was a 350-pound lunatic, one who killed 7 men in the hallway of a church. Naruto and I tracked him down and beat him down together before arresting him. We were a killer team, both of us extremely skilled in weapons and close quarters. We sparred often, though I came out on top most times.

Weston took a lot of hits and delivered a lot as well, but in the end, we knocked him unconscious. People of the church said we did Christ a huge favor by locking away Weston. I got a good laugh from that one.

"Aren't you tired?" Naruto asked. I nodded my head and stood up. I threw out our garbage and slowly walked to my room, where my bed was waiting. "Don't forget about tomorrow!" Naruto yelled. "Hn." I collapsed face first onto the bed and pulled the blanket over myself. Within a minute I drifted off to the sound of Naruto cheering about Daredevil winning some fight or something like that.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my alarm blaring music at roughly 10 AM. It was Minato's birthday today, and I still hadn't gotten him a gift.

I rose from my slumber and looked out the window to see rain pouring heavily onto the ground. I stretched my arms and yawned, releasing the tension in my bones and whatever desire I had to still sleep. I quickly brushed my teeth and hopped in the shower while playing music on my phone to keep myself engaged.

Music was one of my stress relievers, I loved listening and seeing how beats changed and how words melded together to make something truly stunning, which is a really fancy way of saying I really liked music. After hopping out of the shower and slipping on some clothes, I grabbed the keys to my Camaro and exited to go and find something for Naruto's dad.

The man had always been kind to me whenever I was at Naruto's house, so the least I could do is get him a good present.

I walked into a crowded mall and stood in front of the directory, trying to decide which store to go to. That's when it hit me. Minato never really cared much about clothes or that other bullshit, but he loved to collect various hunting knives and mount them on the walls. So without another thought, I turned around and headed back to my car with the image of what I would get him fresh in my mind. I started my car and the engine roared to life while the rain pelted the exterior of my car in an almost picturesque way.

Good old Jacksonville.

I raced out and to the nearest place that sold hunting knives: Buck Knives Dealer.

I walked in to see various assortments of knives and racks of other collectibles. The place was a hunter's dream, same for a collector like Minato. I looked through the knives, examining each one to see whether Minato had already gotten that one or not.

After about 10 minutes of searching and wandering, I found it, the prize.

It was a three pronged blade, the middle one extending out the furthest while the two on the side curved outwards. The handle was wrapped in a brown cloth with something written on it in Japanese. I brought the knife to the front of the shop to pay for it, since it seemed perfect to me.

"$300 sir." I handed him a handful of bills and observed the writing while he counted them.

"What does this mean?" I asked, the inquisitive side of me taking over.

"Ah, its the symbol of the Flying Thunder God," the shopkeeper answered. I furrowed my brows and frowned at the thing. What the hell was a Flying Thunder God?

"Thanks," I muttered before running to my car to stay as dry as possible. I had to admit, after examining the knife closer, it really did look badass, I kind of wanted to keep it for myself.

I drove past slow-moving cars and motorcycles, clocking in at 105 MPH, my Camaro was pretty fast. Its not like I had to worry about tickets either, all I had to do was look at the cop and he would recognize me, probably try to start a conversation or something to avoid the awkwardness and kiss up to me so I wouldn't tell Kakashi about it. Once, this new cop, fresh out the Academy, caught me going 130 and didn't know who I was. I flashed him my badge and he froze, like he thought I would shoot his ass or something. Started mumbling, "Sorry, sir" and some other crap. It was funny to hear him call me Sir, considering the guy was probably around 26-27, a couple years older than me. I always got a good kick out of that stuff.

Once I reached my place, I quickly wrapped the knife in some golden paper and a silver bow, making sure it looked extra fancy so it made me look better.

I waited for Naruto to show up at my door while sipping on some coffee and reading an email from work. It was a congratulations from my Senior Officer, Ibiki Morino, an expert in torture methods. He actually taught me how to improve my methods so that they were both more effective and legal, so I owed him a great deal.

Even so, my gratitude didn't last long, because I would be stuck on desk duty for the next two weeks, Ibiki's congratulations for me detaining my most recent serial killer. I never said it to his scarred face, but desk work was probably my least favorite thing in the world, like ever.

It was so...boring and...not fun.

But there was no avoiding it, so I would have to soldier through without complaining, unless I wanted to incur Ibiki's wrath, which I didn't.

"Sasuke! Let's go!" Naruto's voice sounded from behind my door. I grabbed my keys and Minato's gift before swinging open the door to greet the blonde. He was dressed in the ugliest orange button-down I had ever seen, and I let my distaste for it show by curling my lips and scrunching my nose.

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"What?" I shook my head at his answer and finished buttoning my own black shirt and zipped up my jeans. We made our way to my car, trading our usual jabs the whole way down until we reached my baby. Within a minute, we were speeding towards the party, blasting music that Naruto deemed, "artistic". It was some bullshit, that's what it was.

"I'm putting on my bluetooth."

"Sasuke! These songs are great!"

"You consider some emo guy screaming great?"

"Yeah!" "I hate you, so much."

"Love you too!"

"I'm putting on my bluetooth."

"But you always listen to The Weeknd and stuff about alcohol and girls!"

"And?"

"It's depressing!"

"Your taste in music is depressing."

"Hmph!" He pouted and crossed his arms, which I took as a signal to play my music. We drove along to the tune of Travis Scott, all while Naruto scowled at me every time something remotely bad was said. It was like he was a little kid, and every time he shot me that disapproving look, all I could do was smirk at him in satisfaction.

After 15 minutes of me enjoying Naruto's pain, we stepped out to the sight of many parked cars in front of Naruto's childhood home. The rain was still going strong, pattering against the cement of the sidewalk and the tiles on the rooftop rhythmically as Naruto and I made our way to the concrete steps and ascended to the lilac front door. Before we could even knock, the door swung open, revealing a red-haired woman.

"Boys!" Naruto's mom, Kushina, threw her arms around the both of us. I gave her a small smile in return and Naruto started to laugh and grin.

"Hey, Mom!" I nodded my head to her in greeting, which she laughed at.

"Old habits die hard, eh Sasuke?" Kushina was my mom's best friend back in the day, and she would always try her best to mother me around whenever I was at Naruto's place, making sure I ate so much that I thought I would vomit, scolding me when I got in trouble, and even coming and cheering us on in the school's football games with Minato. She was truly a kind woman, just like my mother was, Naruto was lucky to have such loving parents. I used to envy him for having such a great relationship with them to the point where I started ignoring him. When he found out, we had a huge argument that led to us fighting in the nearby forest. We both ended up with busted lips, but we were fine after that. It was weird, whenever Naruto and I had problems, we would fight, but then go back to being best friends after, like nothing had ever happened.

We made our way into the living room, where most of the guests were. Minato was standing in the middle, talking to some of his old friends and having a drink. I spotted a table nearby littered with colorful boxes and nudged Naruto. We left our gifts there and proceeded to make our way through the room greeting guests here and there and grabbing a nice glass of champagne, the fancy type. Perks of going to rich people's birthday parties. Minato was one of the best lawyers in the state, naturally he pulled in an ungodly amount of income every year, though he never let the money get to him, something I respected him for. Eventually, after greeting some rich old people who I didn't know and giving them fake smiles, Naruto and I reached Minato.

"Hey, dad!" Minato turned around to see the two of us and grinned, looking exactly like Naruto with that cheery smile.

"Boys!" He ruffled our hair before sipping on his champagne.

"God I'll need a whole bottle of this to survive all of these rich, pretentious assholes," he muttered, much to my amusement and Naruto's shock.

"Dad!" He protested.

"I'll be right there with you," I muttered in response, chugging my whole glass before taking another. Minato chuckled and Naruto shook his head in dismay as I downed my second glass even quicker than the first.

"Easy there, you'll need your strength for all your desk work tomorrow," a voice behind me said.

Kakashi clapped my on the shoulder with one hand before ruffling my hair with the other. Why does everyone have to do that?

"Hn," I grunted in annoyance at him reminding me of the stacks of paperwork I'll be plagued with for the next 10 business days.

"Uh oh, he's upset now," Kakashi teased.

"You're such an asshole," I muttered quietly so only he heard it.

"I know, it's liberating, now shut up and put on a good face for the incredibly rich and famous," he answered, leaving me to get drinks and probably flirt with some women.

"I can't believe I used to teach him," Minato reminisced. Occasionally, Minato would teach some Criminal Justice classes at college and he just so happened to be Kakashi's teacher. They became good friends over the years and remain that to this day.

"Don't worry, dad, you're still not 50 yet! So enjoy yourself instead of thinking of the past!" Naruto clapped his father on the back, who in return scowled at Naruto for bringing up how close he was to being half a century old. I smirked into my glass before taking a sip of it and leaving Minato to greet his other guests.

Naruto and I spent most of the party trying to avoid as many people as possible, even going into his old room and camping out there for a couple of hours before Kushina found us and gave us a firm scolding. We tried to hide in various places before finally settling on the basement, even if the room was damp and reeked of something. We stayed down there for at least 30 minutes before we heard Kushina gather the guests to cut the cake, which we went upstairs for.

"Happy Birthday to you…" the voices chorused badly. I could tell Minato wanted to laugh at how badly they were singing from the lopsided grin on his face and his fists clenching in an effort to stifle anything from coming out of his mouth. Thankfully, the singing stopped soon, and Kushina cut the cake along with Minato, their hands joined and smiling at each other. Eventually, Naruto and I went up and got some, followed by Kakashi and then the blood-sucking leeches. I took one bite from the chocolate cake and immediately recoiled at the taste, sweet things didn't sit right with me for some reason, I never understood why. I shoved my remaining cake onto Naruto's plate, which he happily accepted and almost inhaled in one breath.

My eyes scanned the room before landing on Kakashi and some girl. They were talking, actually flirting. I moved in a little closer, subtly of course, to listen in on their conversation. However, right when I was in range, Kushina clapped my shoulder and smiled.

"Great night, huh Sasuke?" Kakashi heard, and he turned his attention to me before quickly turning it back to the girl. However, much to his dismay, the girl followed his eyes and they landed on me, unfortunately. She openly gaped and I could see in her eyes that same feeling all the girls had: desire.

I quickly turned away and disappeared into the crowd, only to be grabbed by the shirt and pulled back by a white-haired man.

"Sorry," I muttered with a teasing glint in my eyes. Kakashi met my eyes with a similar twinkle before ruffling my hair again, "Damn kid," he sighed before smiling through the mask he always wore that covered his mouth and left eye.

"Maybe you should stop chasing one night stands and actually find someone for yourself," I suggested jokingly.

"Why?"

"I don't know, so you could have kids and stuff like that," I shrugged my shoulders, still teasing.

"I have you," he answered unflinchingly, catching me off guard.

"Y-you consider me a son?" I asked, the hope in my voice was actually fathomable, even tangible. He nodded his head and smiled at me.

"I mean, I did raise you for 11 years, I would hope so." With that, he turned and left, leaving me a little shocked but for the first time in a while, truly happy. Maybe I wasn't as lonely as I thought, maybe I just made that up, maybe I should stop trying to be so dark all the time and accept that the people around me really do care.

But then, I turned around to something that shocked me to the very core. I saw...my parents. It was my dad's 30th birthday, and I remembered that my mom tried to force feed him cake. They ran around the table until she finally pinned him down and shoved the spoon in his mouth, almost choking in it. I remember me and Itachi bursting out on laughter, rolling on the floor like madmen. I smiled at the thought, until I blinked my eyes and saw it was Kushina feeding Minato, not my parents. I wouldn't have the luxury of seeing them chase each other like that, I wouldn't have the luxury of seeing my brother laugh with me ever again. I didn't know why I was remembering all this right now, but then I remembered I had at least 8 glasses of that champagne, and it was distorting my mind. I took a couple of deep breaths before steadily walking and leaning on a nearby wall to regain myself. There I stood, people laughing and celebrating around me while I leaned there, a blank look on my face as I stared ahead at nothing in particular. It was like time sped up while I stood there, motionless, like a statue.

"Sasuke," I heard a voice that resembled my mother's say. I saw snapping fingers in front of my face and my name again. "Sasuke?" I looked to my right and saw a dark-haired woman standing there, bearing a close resemblance to me. That's when I said the only thing that came to my mind, a single word escaping my parched lips and traveling through the air, resonating around me.

"Mom?"

Reality came back. I was staring at Kushina, who froze when I said that single word, the look in her face changing from confused to concern almost immediately. I looked around to see that only Minato, Kushina, Naruto, and Kakashi remained, I had missed all the other guests leaving. All of them were staring at me in shock, they had no idea why I said what I said, but their faces all changed like Kushina's, worrying for me.

I blinked a couple of times and regained my senses before pushing off the wall and staring at the ground.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what happened," I whispered before briskly walking out the door and towards my car.

"Sasuke! Wait up!" Naruto called out to me. I was about to chastise him and tell him to leave me alone, but then I realized I was drunk out of my mind and Naruto was my designated driver, so there was no escape for me. I sighed deeply and slid into the passenger seat of my car and handed the keys to the blonde, who took them eagerly and jumped into the driver's seat. The drive home was relatively quiet, save for the noises of the city and Naruto's occasional humming, probably an attempt to get me to say something.

Even when he parked the car in the complex garage, the humming continued to the point where I was about to punch Naruto in the mouth to make it stop.

"Can you not?" I demanded. He shrugged his shoulders, feigning ignorance as to why I was mad before grinning mischievously at me.

"We're not talking about it," I stated in finality, causing Naruto's shoulders to droop in defeat.

"You do know that talking about it makes it easier, right?" He reasoned. I nodded my head, knowing fully well that he was right, in most cases. For me, talking was never a strong suit, especially about the incident. Kakashi had gotten me a therapist in hopes of bettering my mental condition, but it really had no effect on me, in fact it probably made me worse, so he canceled the sessions. I just couldn't move past it, not while Itachi was still out there doing God knows what. In order for me to move on, I needed closure, I needed to know why he did it, or even if he did do it, after all Kakashi named him the primary suspect and once he fled, everyone believed him to be guilty. I walked up the stairs of the building in silence while Naruto begged and pleaded me to talk to him, but I just couldn't.

"Please Sasuke! I'm begging you!" I stopped walking at the desperation in the voice, I couldn't stand to hear him so distraught because of me.

"Naruto...I trust you, but I just can't."

I made sure he could hear the finality in my tone, which he did, so he dropped the subject, deciding to walk with me in silence. We made it to our respective places and without any other words spoken between us, went our separate ways. I sighed and stumbled into my room, carefully plotting each step in fear that I would fall on my face. I looked out the window to the night sky, the darkness that I had grown accustomed to greeting my onyx eyes. I leaned my forehead against the window and closed my eyes, letting the cold glass wet my hair and skin, sending shivers through me. I stayed there, listening to the sounds of the night, the chirping of birds, the occasional person's footsteps on the sidewalks, my steady breathing, a couple of cars driving past the building. I backed up and collapsed on my couch, the back of my head colliding with a pillow. I set my alarm for 7:00 AM and quietly fell asleep, cursing the fact that I had desk work the next day.


	2. Partner Pink

I woke up peacefully, no nightmares plaguing my slumber, thankfully.

I groggily turned off my alarm and immediately walked to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of Advils, popping them into my mouth quickly to alleviate the pain from the headache I had from all the champagne at Minato's party. Brushing my teeth and taking a shower took roughly 15 minutes. Afterwards I had some good old cereal, my go-to breakfast when I was too lazy to make pancakes or spread cream cheese on a bagel.

I threw on a pair of jeans and a snug blue shirt and grabbed my keys before going out and walking down the stairs to the garage. I turned on the Camaro and sped off towards the FBI Office in Jacksonville, convenient, right? It was only a couple of minutes away from my building, meaning it was really easy to get there, so being late wasn't really a worry for me. I parked and made my way to the blue building.

I walked into the 5-story fortress and quickly flashed my badge to the receptionist, who offered me a smile and a "good morning". I silently took the elevator to the top floor, where my desk was waiting for me, probably filled with paperwork already. I shuddered at the mere thought of it, paperwork was the greatest nuisance known to man. The doors opened, and out I walked to my desk, my prediction proven to be true. I frowned at the files and went to sit down and get started, only to be stopped by the boss.

"Uchiha! My office!" Ibiki barked. I sighed and followed the man into his office, shutting the door behind me while he sat down. I stood there and awaited him to address me, but I froze when I saw the glint of amusement in his eyes.

"You're getting a partner," he said nonchalantly, sipping on his coffee.

Fuck.

"But, sir-" I began, but he cut me off before I could continue pleading my case.

"Save me the bullshit about you working better alone and whatever, two heads are always better than one, plus, I think you'll like her."

Her.

"A girl?" He nodded his head with a mischievous smile plastered onto his face.

"Between you and me, she's hot too, so try not to get distracted." I scoffed at his remark, as if some girl would distract me. "Regardless, I want you to go down and meet her at Bird's Cafe in about 10 minutes. Don't. Be. An. Asshole." I frowned at him and muttered a, "Yes Sir" before taking my leave. This is what I get for having an almost perfect arrest record, for catching numerous killers efficiently. A stack of paperwork and some girl as a partner. I slammed my forehead onto the desk and groaned loudly to express my pain and grief.

"Didn't get your coffee, yet?" I looked up to see a fellow agent of mine, Jugo, staring at me, amused.

"Fuck off," I replied before putting my head back down.

"Having a partner isn't that bad, you'll get used to it," he said before walking away. Ibiki must've told everyone before I came in that I, Sasuke Uchiha, was getting a partner, probably got a good laugh out of that. I decided to hurry up and get this whole thing over with, so I grabbed my keys and popped back into Ibiki's office.

"What's her name?"

"Sakura Haruno." I nodded and got back into the elevator, at least I didn't have to do paperwork until I got back. I slowly walked out of the elevator and the building and got into my jet-black car. I turned on the ignition and sat there for a minute, wondering if maybe I should just not go and tell Ibiki she wasn't there. Then again, he would probably know I was lying, so I would get in trouble regardless.

I resigned myself to fate and sped off towards the nearby cafe, reaching there in about 3 minutes while disregarding the speed limit. It was a small cafe, relatively peaceful too, the dark brown walls and windows giving it a nice touch.

Only about 6 people were in there, not including the waiters and waitresses. I walked inside immediately noticing that only 1 of the people there was a girl with short brown hair and looked to be in her 30s, around Kakashi's age.

"Excuse me miss, you wouldn't happen to be Sakura Haruno, would you?" She shook her head and offered me a smile.

"Name's Rin, I'm meeting a guy named Kakashi here." She must've noticed my eyes widen and mouth open slightly because she raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"He's a friend," I lied quickly before leaving the cafe to avoid any further catastrophe.

I scanned the parking lot, but all the cars were empty, and there was no sign of anyone else going into the cafe. I sighed and decided to get a cup of coffee to go since I wanted to avoid seeing Kakashi on a...date.

"Black, cream and two sugars," I told the woman behind the counter. In a minute, I had a cup of coffee in my hand, steaming hot, and satisfying my caffeine addiction. I turned around with the cup in my hand and phone in the other, ready to call Ibiki and tell him the girl was a no show. I was distracted, so when I opened the door, I didn't see that someone was already behind it, phone in hand as well.

"Ah!" She yelped as she dropped her phone from her grasp. With lightning reflexes, I snatched the phone before it hit the ground, clasping onto it with my fingers before looking up in amusement at the yelping girls.

For the first time in my 24 years of being on this Earth, I had my breath stolen from me.

Her pink hair flowed to her shoulders, slightly brushing past them and onto her upper back. It reminded me of a Sakura tree, like the pink petals on a Sakura tree, gleaming with beauty. The wind blew past us both, but we didn't notice, all I saw was her. Her skin was velvety, and shone like it was made of ivory, only a tank top and sweats keeping me from seeing all of her. Her lips were parted, like mine, as if the person in front of her was enchanting. I was spellbound, like she had cast something at me, because I couldn't leave the sight of her. Those emerald eyes had me locked in a battle, like her evergreen was challenging my onyx to a battle to see who would back off first. We stared at each other for what I thought was an eternity, mouths agape and entranced, before her phone vibrated in my hand, snapping us back to reality.

"Oh! Um...thanks!" She smiled politely at me. I ignored the way my stomach was flipping over and the way my lips desired to touch her own. What was wrong with me? I sounded like some obsessed teenager.

"No problem," I answered nonchalantly, handing her phone back to her. She smiled again at me and locked eyes with me again.

"Aren't you going to check it?" I inquired.

"Check what?" I raised my eyebrow at her.

"You got a message."

"Oh, r-right!" She stammered, checking her phone and sighing. "I'm supposed to meet my new partner today, but I can't find him and no one bothered to give me his number," she stated in annoyance.

"New partner?" I raised an eyebrow again in inquiry.

"I'm new at the FBI Office, Sakura Haruno." She extended her hand in greeting. I took it and hid the smirk that was forming on my face.

"Come to think of it, I think I saw someone named Uchiha just leave, he was probably heading back to that office if you want to catch him there."

"Thanks!" She beamed at me, making my stupid stomach do stupid somersaults again. Then, her beaming face turned slightly red as her cheeks became the color of tomatoes.

"Um...can I…" She began, twirling her pink locks. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually like this but...you know what, nevermind, it was nice meeting you!"

She fast walked away, leaving me amused and confused at the same time. I smirked and caught myself looking at her swaying hips as she walked to her car, a modest Corolla, and drove off. This should be fun. I hopped into my car and drove off a minute later to the same destination as her. I saw her walking into the building when I pulled into the parking lot, almost perfect timing. I parked and took the second elevator up to the top floor, almost eager to see her. I kicked myself for behaving like this, like a horny kid.

"What did she do to me?" I sighed out. Thankfully, I was the only one in the elevator, so no one else could hear the words that escaped my lips or notice how laced with longing they were. For her. I groaned and hit myself in the head to regain my sanity right before the elevator opened up. A particularly loud voice resounded through the floor, and if I was anyone else, it would've been unnerving.

"UCHIHA! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!" I calmly walked to his office, never breaking stride until Jugo and another agent, Suigetsu, walked past me.

"Did you see her? She's the hottest girl I've ever seen! And I watch a lot of porn too!" The cerulean-haired man rambled.

"I have to admit, Sasuke, even I have to admit she is a beautiful woman," Jugo said calmly.

"Thanks," I grumbled, earning a small smile from him.

"Sasuke doesn't care, he'll just fuck her than leave, right Sasuke?" Suigetsu grinned at me, reminding me of Naruto.

"Yeah, probably," I answered, much to Suigetsu's delight for some reason.

"Great! I got dibs then!" He said before walking away. I met Jugo's gaze for a second and immediately saw his questioning look.

"You just lied," he said before going on his way. The big guy had an uncanny way of seeing through me sometimes, and it was kind of weird. I made my way to Ibiki's office and saw Sakura standing in front of him, flinching every time he yelled.

"You idiot, I told you not to be an asshole, now go show her around the building before I wring your neck!" He commanded. He nodded to Sakura, dismissing her. She turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of me. I smirked at the way her mouth opened like it had at the cafe and beckoned her towards me.

"You're Sasuke?" I nodded, amused at the way she was staring.

"Why didn't you tell me, you jerk! I thought I was going to be in trouble or something!"

I shrugged my shoulders in response, annoying her even more. We went to the floor beneath us and I showed her around. It wasn't much, just a regular floor with some cubicles and a corner office.

"This is the Finance department, I'm pretty sure you know what that means already so let's go down another floor."

The next floor was where we kept our evidence, hundreds of files littered the wooden shelves, all from both solved and unsolved cases.

"Whoa…" she breathed, observing the stacks of paper in awe before pulling out her phone and taking a picture.

"Don't drop it, I might not catch it this time," I teased in a nonchalant tone. Her face snapped towards me and she stuck out her tongue which I combated with a satisfied smirk.

The tour continued like that, me talking in a nonchalant tone while taking every opportunity I possibly could to tease her or elicit a response from her. When we finally finished the tour, she had enough of my constant torture and stopped talking to me when we got into the elevator to the top.

"Sakura." I said. No response.

"Sakura." No response.

"I can keep going as long as you want." She finally turned her head toward me, much to my satisfaction.

"What?" I leaned in closer, holding myself back so I didn't get too close. I could see a faint blush come and cover her cheeks. I wanted to say it was cute, I wanted to say she was hot like everyone else, that she was the hottest woman I had ever seen as Suigetsu had said, but I would be partially lying. She was definitely the hottest girl I had ever seen, but she was more than hot. To me, she was beautiful.

So I leaned in so that our faces were inches away before whispering, "You're annoying." Her face immediately turned red and she crossed her arms, right under her damn chest. My mouth opened slightly at the sight of her chest, but I regained my composure and leaned my head back onto the elevator wall, thanking whoever that I didn't have to be so close to her, otherwise I would lose myself. I sat down at my desk and she sat down across from me, still ignoring me. I smirked at her and opened up some of the work I had to do, grimacing at how tedious it all looked.

"Don't tell me that's what we're doing," she complained, pouting in the most adorable way. I threw one of the stacks onto her desk in response, earning an annoyed grunt from her.

We sat there in silence for the next few hours, engrossed in our papers and such before 4 PM finally came, marking the end of our shift.

"Let's go, we're done for the day," I said, standing and stretching my limbs. She sighed in relief before mimicking my actions. I led the way to the elevator and was grateful for each step I took away from the evil pile of paper that was still sitting on my desk. I held my breath and didn't release it until the doors closed, exhaling heavily and leaning back on the wall. Sakura started giggling and I looked at her in confusion.

"You're so dramatic," she said through giggles. I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms, mimicking what she did earlier, except I didn't have any tits to show off.

"Aw, Sasuke's upset," she cooed and pinched my cheek.

"Ow!" I slapped her hand away and rubbed the reddish mark on my cheek that may have been a blush, I wasn't sure. She kept giggling prettily while I rolled my eyes and leaned back again. We stepped out of the elevator and went to our respective vehicles. I was about to get in when she called out to me.

"Sasuke, um, I kind of don't know how to get to my apartment building…" She looked downwards in embarrassment, drawing a small chuckle from me.

"Let me see your address real quick." I looked at her phone and widened my eyes slightly.

"What?"

"That's my building, its only like 3 minutes away from here," I replied. She looked taken aback before a small smile covered her face.

"At least I'll have a friend here, then."

"Wow, I've been upgraded to friend, awesome," I replied casually, shooting her a smirk. "All your other friends back home?" She nodded.

"I'm the only person I know here, well you too now, but that's about it. All my friends and my parents live in Jersey."

I nodded before handing her phone back to her and motioning her to follow.

"Don't worry, I'll go extra slow for your Toyota," I remarked.

"If I had a car like yours I'd dust your ass, Uchiha."

"I'd like to see you try," I retorted. She rolled her eyes and settled into her car while I settled into mine. I drove off slowly enough so that she could follow with ease. I whipped out my phone and called Sakura quickly.

"How'd you get my number?"

"Put it in when you gave me your phone," I answered.

"At least I don't have to ask now."

"Hn."

"What?"

"Hn."

"Are you grunting at me?"

"Hn."

"If you do that one more time I swear I'll hang up."

"Hn." She wasn't lying.

I smirked to myself and threw my phone to the passenger seat. I laid my head back and enjoyed the afternoon sun as well as the busy streets of Jacksonville. Tourists were scattered everywhere, at street vendors, restaurants, you name it.

Jacksonville was a pretty location, it made a good amount of money off of tourism every year, so while tourists were annoying at times, they helped pay the bills. The streets were usually littered with Toyotas, Hondas, and Fords, as well as the occasional muscle or exotic car.

My car was muscle, damn powerful muscle. 0-60 in 4 seconds flat. I loved her.

In a few minutes, we pulled into the apartment's parking garage. I parked right next to Naruto in my usual spot and turned off the car. I turned to see Sakura walking towards me while studying her phone.

"I have to go to the front desk and get my keys," she told me.

I nodded and led her up the steps until we got to our desired location. I stood behind Sakura while she attained her key from the landlord. "I'm on the 4th floor," she declared, leading the way up the stairs. "Right below you," I replied, averting my gaze from behind her to my phone so that I wouldn't do anything stupid. "Here we are!" She exclaimed when we got to her place.

Her apartment's design was identical to mine, the walls were light blue and the structure was the same. There were boxes all over the place, decorating the floor in brown.

"Have fun unpacking," I muttered, examining the number of boxes there were.

There were a lot.

"Thanks, I'm leaping in excitement," she muttered back before grabbing a nearby box and stacking the contents of it in the kitchen.

"Want some help?" I asked. She smiled sheepishly at me before looking to the ground and rubbing the back of her neck.

"No, its ok, I'll manage," she said modestly. I knew she wanted my help, but I wanted to have a little fun first.

I shrugged my shoulders and uttered an "Ok" before moving towards the door. "Have fun moving the bed by yourself," I called out.

"Wait!" She ran towards me and tugged my sleeve. "Will you help me?"

"I thought you had it under control."

"Please?"

"You seem like a very capable girl."

"Sasuke!" I chuckled and let her tug me into her apartment. We unloaded everything for the kitchen first, just some glasses, a couple of plates, utensils, and some pots, simple really. Her living room was the next step, and it was harder than the kitchen. We unloaded and set up everything except for the sofa.

"I'll do it," I said.

"You get that side, I'll get this one," she ordered. We lifted on three, and I was shocked to see that she had a freakish amount of strength.

"You take steroids or something?"

"I'm just amazing like that."

"Definitely," I replied sarcastically.

"You're scared that I'll beat your ass," she shot back, earning an amused smirk from me. We lifted the sofa and placed it right in the middle of the living room, just like it was in mine. The rest followed quickly, even setting up the TV was pretty easy. We finished the rest of the living room and the bathroom in a couple of hours and decided to take a break before setting up the bedroom. "Here." She handed me a beer which I gladly accepted and sipped on while she took a seat next to me on her couch. We sat there in a comfortable silence before she switched the TV on.

We sat there scrolling through the channels before deciding on The Departed on AMC. We watched the first quarter of it, pure genius from Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Leo DiCaprio. I had seen the movie before and loved it, I didn't mind seeing it again.

However, about 20 minutes in, I felt eyes staring at me and looked through the corner of my eye to see Sakura staring at me intently before turning her attention back to the screen. I didn't say anything about it, opting to watch the movie instead of asking her about it and making things awkward.

"We should probably get back to work," she whispered a while later. I nodded and got up to unload the remaining boxes with her behind me. A nightstand, followed by some posters and a painting, a lamp, her dressing table, which was heavier than it seemed. She hung up all of her clothes while I set up the posters and unloaded all of her jewelry and whatever while I set up the lamp and painting.

"Alright, we'll set up the bed frame first, then the mattress, then all the blankets and and pillows," she declared. We got to work and soon, her place was all set up, looking a bit like mine. "It looks nice, right?" She looked at me for an answer to which I shrugged.

"Oh my god, I really hate you," she remarked.

"No you don't," I answered, "I'll get going now."

"Thanks, Sasuke," she said before tentatively walking towards me and wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her back and smiled at her when she beamed up at me. Damn girl had me feeling all types of things.

"See you," I said after she released me with a blush on her cheeks, though I wasn't sure if she saw that I was sporting my own blush. I walked down to my own apartment, exhausted from all the lifting and moving around that I had done, though I didn't mind being with her. I liked her, I liked her body, I liked being around her, I liked hearing her voice, I liked seeing her blush, I liked her.

Shit.

I liked her.

I slapped a hand over my forehead as if it would silence my own thoughts, but I had no such luck. That night, I went to sleep thinking of her, of how her body fit perfectly with mine.


	3. Dallas

Two weeks.

Two weeks of paperwork.

More like two weeks of hell.

Those two weeks were finally over, and Sakura seemed even happier than I was that the pain was over with. Sakura and I were finally going to have a case, actually going to get to do something. Ibiki called us into his office, a pale folder on his desk that he handed to me.

Dallas.

A sniper spree.

From the report, at about 1 PM at a local outdoor cafe, a sniper opened fire and killed 7 while injuring 4 others. "Your flight leaves in three hours, get packed and find the bastard," he told us. I handed the file to Sakura and left to my desk to gather some of my things.

"This is serious stuff," she mumbled.

"Can't handle it?" I flashed a smirk at her.

"You wish, Sasuke." I drove home with her following and went up to my place to gather my clothes and custom weapons that I had left there instead of bringing them to the office for some reason. Two high powered Brownings, the one on the left having Sasuke engraved on it with black, while the one on the right had Uchiha engraved in red, my prized pistols. I threw a couple of pairs of clothes into my duffel bag along with toiletries and other necessities before leaving my apartment uninhabited.

I walked down to the lobby and waited for Sakura to come down with her own things. I passed the time on my phone for 10 minutes when she came down hauling a suitcase and a backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Packing lightly?" She asked me. I didn't answer, rather I walked to my car and waited for her to do the same. I threw my bag onto the passenger seat and quickly shot Naruto and Kakashi a text saying that I was going to Dallas for a case.

Without waiting for a response, I backed up and drove out of the parking garage with Sakura following closely behind. 20 minutes later, we pulled into the airport parking lot together. I got out and walked towards the entrance while Sakura ran up to catch up to me.

"Slow down!" She shouted, but I didn't like to wait. We quickly pulled out our boarding passes and walked to security, where she finally caught up to me.

"Why won't you wait?!" She practically screamed when she caught me. I just smirked at her briefly before turning my attention to my vibrating phone.

"Yeah?"

"Did you bring everything you need?" Kakashi asked.

"Hn," I replied.

"Good, see you whenever I see you."

"Tell Rin I said hi," I slipped in before hanging up so he couldn't respond to my little jibe.

"Who was that?"

"A friend," I replied, hoping she wouldn't press the issue. Thankfully, she didn't. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but we had only known each other for two weeks, and I didn't like telling everyone about my situation and issues because I didn't want their pity. Having people pity me was one thing that I had no patience for, I didn't need anyone feeling bad for me and whatever other bullshit pity consisted of. I flashed my ID to the woman at the desk and Sakura and I were allowed past with our weapons. I was surprised to see her carrying a Smith & Wesson Magnum, a powerful pistol, one with a ton of kick, though I shouldn't be surprised since she had freakish strength for whatever reason.

We gathered our things and made our way through the airport while glancing at random stores and the painted walls that canvassed the place in an attempt to liven it up. Sakura broke off to look at one of the magazine's at one of the stands for a little bit and I waited for her to finish.

"I didn't know the Cowboys were the world's most valuable sports team," she said while walking to me.

"The NFL is the most valuable league in the world, so its not that surprising," I answered. She pouted and I did something that actually shocked me. I poked her forehead with my index and middle finger, a gesture Itachi did to me back when I was little. She was too busy rubbing her forehead to notice the shock on my face, thankfully, instead opting to scowl at me.

We walked away from the newsstand and towards our gate, which wasn't too far away. We took a seat at our gate, and all I could think of was what I did. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal, but I couldn't shake it from my head. It brought back memories of my older brother, of how he would play with me and teach me random things about nature that I still remembered to this day.

"Sasuke, are you ok?"

"He didn't kill them…" I whispered to myself, but Sakura heard me too.

"Sasuke?" I shook my head, clearing all thoughts that were running through me.

"Sorry, I was thinking about an old case," I lied. She saw right through me, I could tell from the look in her eyes, but she didn't push it.

"Food?" She proposed.

I nodded my head and followed as she got up and walked to a nearby restaurant that seemed like it served pretty decent food. It was a small place, only had about 10 tables in the actual restaurant, but it served burgers.

Burgers had tomatoes.

Therefore, I liked burgers.

The wooden walls enclosing the place were decorated with various paintings of scenery from around the world, appropriate for an airport restaurant. I took my seat across from Sakura and awaited the waitress to come take our order. She caught my eyes and smiled seductively at me while batting her eyelashes. Usually, I might humor her, because the girl was sexy, but Sakura was right across from me, and all the sexual tension in my bones only ached for her, the pink-haired girl across from me, smiling at the menu.

"Can I take your order?" The waitress had unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt, flaunting her breasts at me, but my eyes never left the menu.

"One hamburger," Sakura stated.

"Make it two," I confirmed.

"Would you like to hear our specials before I take this back?" The waitress asked, still staring at me.

"No thanks," Sakura said for the both of us. The waitress nodded and took her menu before reaching across the table and taking mine, "accidently" brushing her hand over mine. I sighed and gave her a small glare as a way of telling her to back off, sending her back to the kitchen.

"Fucking girls," I muttered, earning a giggle from the one across from me. Her phone buzzed and she checked it before her eyes widened.

"Look!" She shoved the thing in my face so I could see whatever got her excited.

It read: "Jacksonville PD arrest Damien Larson for the murder of two men at the Hellion nightclub". I smirked at the news and pulled out my phone, dialing Naruto's number.

"Hey Sasuke! See the news?"

"Was it you?"

"Yep! I found him hiding out in one of his old girlfriend's place and called up Kiba and Shikamaru to make the arrest. It was great!"

"Good job, idiot."

"Thanks, asshole." I hung up and stared at a slightly shocked Sakura.

"You're friends with the homicide detective at the station, why am I surprised?" I shrugged in response.

"Let me guess, you two were the troublemakers at school without even trying," she guessed. I smirked in response, confirming her suspicion. Naruto and I used to do some dumb shit in school, from fighting other people to spray painting a huge dick onto the baseball diamond, which was pretty funny, by the way.

"Trouble always seemed to find you, huh?" She inquired further, earning a nod from me.

Our burgers arrived and I sized the thing up before taking a bite and savoring the taste of the meat combined with the tomato juice. Within a minute, I had finished the burger, leaving no remnants behind. I waited for Sakura to finish hers before departing the place and walking back to our gate to board the plane. I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Sakura did the same while dragging her other bag behind her. We handed our boarding passes to the lady in front of the gate before walking through the tunnel and getting inside the plane. I walked to the 19th row and sat myself down in the window seat while Sakura sat down in the middle seat.

I plugged my earphones it and got ready for the duration of the flight while Sakura repeated my actions. Within 30 minutes, we were soaring through the air and I was feeling slightly drowsy. I turned my music down a little and prepared myself to rest, but was stopped by a head on my shoulder. I turned to see Sakura sleeping peacefully, her pink head resting on my shoulder while her mouth breathed silently, her plush lips parted ever so slightly. I smiled at her, genuinely smiled, before leaning my head back and letting my drowsiness eat away at my consciousness.

…

I woke up with my cheek resting on something pink.

I lifted my head up to see my face was resting on Sakura's hair while she was still asleep on my shoulder. I found myself devoid of the comfortable feeling I had when I rested my head on the side of the plane, growing frustrated at my inability to rest, so I decided to give no fucks and put my head back on the pink hair that smelled like cherry blossoms. Strangely enough, my drowsiness came back, and in no time I was back to sleeping like a baby.

I woke up a while later to movement underneath me.

The pink-haired woman beneath me had roused, blinking a couple of times and staring up at me.

Our eyes met and we quietly looked at each other.

Just like the first time, emerald met onyx in a battle to see who would back down first, and just like the first time, we looked away at the same time.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are about to land, so please fasten your seatbelts," the captain's voice echoed across the intercom.

"Finally," Sakura muttered.

"Hn," I grunted in response. We sat in silence for the next 10 minutes while the plane landed. Once it did, we were finally able to get up and gather our bags from the compartments atop our seats and exit the aircraft. I reached up and pulled Sakura's suitcase down for her and exited the plane with her. We walked out, still a little groggy, but focused, nonetheless. We had a job to do.

"We got a rented car waiting for us at the Avis nearby, let's go get it and drive to the station," I told her. She nodded and followed as I walked out of the airport and to the car rental place. We found the big Avis sign towering over the other car rental signs and walked to the front desk.

"Uchiha and Haruno," I told the man behind the counter. He handed me some paperwork to fill out while he got the keys to the car, so I sat down and did it while Sakura played on her phone.

"Need some help?" She asked. I shook my head, filling out a car rental form wasn't really much cause for concern.

First name, last name, address, apartment number, phone number, the usual stuff. I finished and handed the clipboard back to the man in exchange for a pair of keys with a Ford logo attached to them.

"Your car is in spot A7," he told me, to which I nodded in return while Sakura gave him a "thank you". I walked to the spot while Sakura rambled on about something in the NFL Draft, much to my surprise.

"You watch?" I asked in mild shock.

"Yeah. Am I not supposed to?" She stumped me, and she knew it because a teasing smirk covered her face.

"Wow, so because I'm a girl with pink hair, you're saying that I shouldn't be watching football?" She crossed her arms under her chest, and for obvious reasons, I wish she wouldn't do that.

"Annoying," I muttered, earning a victorious grin from her.

I poked her forehead just like I did at the airport, but this time I wasn't shocked by myself. Itachi did it to me to show that he cared, so I did it to her, because I couldn't hide the fact that I cared about her.

I sound so cheesy right now.

She rubbed the spot and glared at me, to which I chuckled in response.

"I hate you," she said once she sat down in the passenger seat.

"No, you don't," I answered simply, smirking at her. She returned my smirk with equal vigor and engaged me in a staring contest, unsurprisingly, we both averted our gazes at the same time.

"We should probably head to the station now," I declared while backing out and driving out of the car rental place.

"Wow, wise decision," she remarked sarcastically, causing me to scowl at the road, much to her delight, damn pinkette. She connected her phone to the car's bluetooth and started blasting some of her music, which to my shock, contained more than a few songs that I was familiar with. I stared at the road silently while she nodded her head and sang along perfectly, her delicate voice changing from high to low whenever the song required. She was serenading me, and she didn't even know it. She sang some of the songs better than the actual artists, and I wasn't even exaggerating, this girl was something else.

We stayed like that all the way to the station, her singing and me listening. When we arrived, I was a little disappointed that the concert ended, but we had work to do. We made our way inside the two story building and were met with a strangely designed place.

Numerous desks and cubicles littered the ground floor behind the receptionist's desk. Paper stacks were everywhere, my mortal enemy. Officers were sitting at their desks, filling out paperwork, typing away on a computer, or on the phone. Others were standing by the coffee machine, chatting and by my guess, taking breaks. There was a lab at the end of the floor, most likely where all the forensics work was done. Evidence lockup was to the right of the lab, with one cop sitting in front of it like a guard dog. There were stairs that led to a much smaller second floor, presumably where the detectives worked. Sakura and I made our way upstairs and were greeted with a large office, where the department chief sat with the lieutenant.

"You two must be the FBI Agents," the department chief greeted, extending his hand. He was a bald-headed man in his 50s, nearing retirement most probably, and he reeked of Jack Daniel's. Sakura shook his hand first and I followed suit.

"Sakura Haruno, this is my partner, Sasuke Uchiha," she introduced.

"Oh we know all about Mr. Uchiha," the lieutenant, a woman in her 40s, stated. "Yes we do, Ibiki said you were his best, even though you've only been at his command for 5 months," the chief praised.

I felt kind of awkward receiving all this praise so I just nodded in acknowledgement, hoping that they would stop and we could get down to business. They did, to my relief, as the chief pulled out a file and placed it before me. I picked it up and read over it while he talked.

"1:03 PM, a sniper opens fire at Hardwire Cafe, killing 7 and wounding 3 more. Eyewitnesses claim they never saw the gunman or gunmen." I nodded after reading the file, which basically contained the same information as he had just stated and handed it to Sakura.

"Come on," I beckoned Sakura out while she read the file. We sat down in the car and I put in the directions to Hardwire Cafe, as she finished reading the file. The place was about 10 minutes away, 6 if we were green all the way, which we weren't, so I just activated the siren the department provided us with and sped to the place.

"Wow," Sakura breathed as she observed the city of Dallas. There were a good amount of skyscrapers and no shortage of restaurants and other exotic buildings, this place definitely differed from Jacksonville in more ways than one. People were flocked everywhere, in the restaurants, the numerous clothing stores, even some of the buildings, which seemed to be tourist attractions. But when we neared the scene of the attack, the people disappeared like ghosts. Only yellow tape was there, as well as police cars and some officers.

"Hi, I'm Detective Holder," a man in his 30s told us. He shook our hands, but his gaze lingered on Sakura a little too long for my liking.

"Have you found anything?" I asked, turning the man's attention back to me.

"We've found some bullets, 7.62x63mm."

".30-06 Springfield," Sakura recited. I didn't let the surprise on my face show, but even I didn't know which gun it was that quickly.

"U-uh yeah," Holder stammered, clearly even more surprised than I was, "Nice work." He turned around to answer a phone call and left me and Sakura to gauge the crime scene ourselves.

"Weapons expert, huh?" I asked. She smirked at me in response, taking a page out of my book. We walked around and observed the various markings on the scene. Shattered glass, bullet markings on the floor and tears in the umbrella.

"He had to have fired at least 20 bullets, Jesus, he must've been a terrible shot," Sakura noted.

"We should look at the dead bodies back at the station to see where he hit them, maybe we can pinpoint if he really was a terrible shot," I explained.

"Isn't all the proof that he's not that great right here?" She motioned all over where bullet markings were everywhere.

"Yeah, you're probably right," I agreed, the bullet markings were literally all over the place.

"Did you find his vantage point?" Sakura asked Holder, who had just returned from his phone call. He shook his head to our disappointment.

"Let's go," she beckoned me to follow. We looked around to see any nearby vantage points. "There," Sakura pointed to a building that was actually quite far away, but getting on top of the roof would provide a clear vantage point as well as sufficient cover so the shooter didn't have to worry about being spotted.

"Hey, have your men check web histories for any hits about Springfields or the type of bullets that they use," I told Holder before following Sakura to the building that we pinpointed.

It was 6 stories, a business building for some company called HR & Donald, a marketing firm. It had clear glass windows on each floor, but judging from the lack of broken windows, the shooter had to have gone on top of the building. "FBI," Sakura waved her badge at the receptionist on the ground floor, who looked surprised to see us. We found the stairs and walked all the way to the top, dodging a couple of bugs and spiders on the way. Eventually, we reached the door to the roof, but it had a lock that seemed to have been put there recently.

"Weird," I muttered.

"Very perceptive, Sasuke," she said in that sarcastic tone.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Again, very perspective."

"Annoying," I mumbled before kicking the door down.

"Um, that's one way to get in," Sakura said. We walked around the roof to see if there was anything there, only to find a bird's nest and some graffiti. "What the hell?" Sakura muttered in frustration, trying to see if anything was of use. I laid down on my stomach and looked at the cafe from where I was.

This was the place, no doubt. The only other building that was as tall as this one was a newspaper place a couple buildings away, but the sniper's view would've been obscured from an H&M store by the cafe. This spot gave the sniper a perfect view of the cafe, nothing obstructing it. Whoever this was had to be smart, though, because there were not bullet casings or fragments in sight, the person cleaned up after themselves.

"I'll see if I can get some camera footage," Sakura said before disappearing down the stairs.

I lay there, still looking through my figurative scope down at Hardwire, imagining the scene inside my head. I loaded the gun and took a deep breath.

Bang. My first victim falls.

Bang. I hit the umbrella.

Bang. I wound someone.

Bang. Another one dead.

Bang. The window shatters.

Bang. Another window shatters.

Bang. I hit the ground.

Bang. Another person wounded.

Bang. Another kill.

Bang. Add one more to the death count.

Bang. Miss.

Bang. Miss.

Bang. Miss.

Bang. I hit someone in the leg.

Bang. Kill.

Bang. Kill.

Bang. Kill.

Bang. Miss.

Bang. Miss.

Bang. Kill.

Judging from the power of a gun the caliber of the Springfield, the suspect had to have been pretty strong, and was most likely in the age range of late 20s to late 30s, maybe early 40s if you really pushed it.

"We got something, Sasuke," Sakura called. I got up and followed her down to the 6th floor, where we went to the CEO's office. "They have footage of a hooded man walking up the stairs with a suitcase at 12:58 PM, 5 minutes before shots were fired. There's a hidden camera right where the door leading up to the roof was," she explained. The CEO nodded before flipping his computer to us and playing the footage of a man in black opening the door and closing it. He came back out about 11 minutes later at 1:09, after fire had ceased, meaning this had to be our guy. Unfortunately, he never revealed his face to the camera, so facial recognition was out of question.

"Judging by this angle, he's 6'1, maybe around 175 pounds," I concluded. He was wearing gloves and as mentioned before a hoodie that concealed his face, so I couldn't determine what his skin color was.

"You keep records of your visitors, Mr. Patel?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes, but I don't feel very comfortable sharing that footage, so if you would please-"

"We could always come back with a warrant if that would make you happier," I interrupted in a bored tone.

"T-that won't be necessary," he stammered before pressing a button on the intercom. "Sarah, bring me the visitor records from the day of the shooting, ASAP," he told his secretary. Sakura and I shared a glance as well as small victorious smirks.

In 30 seconds time, a woman walked in and dropped off a file with two pages in it, all of their visitor records from that day. I pulled out the first piece of paper and scanned for the times around 12:45 to 1:20.

"Can you eliminate any of these name, Mr. Patel?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, these two are paper delivery boys, this woman is the wife of one of my workers, and these two were representatives of another business, they were both meeting with me at the time of the attack." That left 3 names that were unchecked.

"Thank you, Mr. Patel," Sakura acknowledged as we took our leave. Once we made it to the safety of the elevator, Sakura turned to me. "Why didn't he go to the police with this? He had the camera footage, so why not?" I looked down at her and sighed.

"Probably thought it was bad for business, having businesses think that you were aiding a terrorist like this is damaging, especially for a marketing firm," I explained.

"Still, you would think he would care more about catching a murderer than some business," she looked downwards as she said it.

"World isn't a great place, Sakura, people are selfish more times than not." She looked up at me with wide eyes before looking at the wall.

"I don't believe that, Sasuke, people are better than you think."

"Believe what you want, Sakura." I said with finality and a surprising amount of conviction. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it before anything could come out. I instantly felt bad for trying to corrupt her still pure mind with my own darkness, just because I viewed the world differently because of everything I had experienced didn't mean I had to force it onto her image.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, its just on this job...the people you meet, the things you see...it gets to you sometimes," I told her.

"But its not that is it? That's just what you tell other people. There's something else that's happened to you that made you think of the world like that, isn't there?" She read me like a book. No one could read me, not Naruto, not Kakashi, no one, and she just figured me out within a little over 2 weeks. I looked away and pursed my lips, ending the conversation, though I could feel her gaze still on me, hoping for an answer, but I never gave her one, so she settled on staring away and making my stomach swirl with a little guilt.

The car ride back was quiet, made bearable only by some music, but Sakura wasn't singing along like she was before, making me feel even more guilty for kind of being a dick. Although, I was impressed with Sakura's intuition, all it took was a couple of sentences for her to figure me out. She definitely earned her spot in the FBI, that was clear to me. We made it to the station, but before we could walk in, Sakura grabbed my arm and used that strength of hers to turn me around.

"I'm not asking for you to share anything that you don't want to, just know that I'm here for you, and please don't view the world like that, at least give it a chance." I could see how sincere she was by one look into her eyes, the emerald was shining with mirth and hope, like my eyes used to when I was a child, before everything happened.

If it was Naruto, if it was Kakashi, or anyone else, I probably would've shrugged them off and told them about how I had given the world enough chances, and how it had failed me every time. But her, the pink-haired girl staring at me, the one I met at a cafe, the one that I loved being around, the one I felt so attached to even though it had only been a little over 14 days, the pink-haired girl staring at me with her emerald orbs shining with hope. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it.

"Ok," I whispered softly as I lost myself in those eyes and the feeling of her skin meshing with mine. I could feel the warmth radiating off of her, and I could hear my heart telling me to give in, to take her, but my head was telling me not to, that she deserved better than the broken boy standing in front of her. But I didn't have a choice when she stepped towards me, aching for the same thing that I wanted. I inched closer and saw her repeat the action, and for that second, everything froze, all I saw was me and her. My heart was pounding so loudly I was afraid that she would hear it.

"Sasuke…" she whispered softly, leaning in even closer so that our lips were inches apart.

Bang! The sound of a weapon went off, ringing through the Dallas air. Cops poured out of the station in the direction of the shots, swarming the area that the gunshot rang from. Sakura and I pushed ourselves to the front of the crowd and found that the man had already been apprehended. It wasn't our sniper, just some guy attempting to mug another one in a suit.

"We got it," an officer said from near our location, dragging the guy to the police station while his partner took his gun. I let out a sigh of relief while Sakura looked up at me before doing the same.

"Come on, we have victims to look at," I beckoned her back to the station where we went to the morgue to examine the dead bodies.

They were all lined up in alphabetical order according to their last names. The mortician came in to identify the killing shot for each victim.

"First one, headshot, pretty straightforward," the middle-aged man explained. "Second one, severed brachial artery. Third one, severed caratoid artery. Fourth one, femoral artery severed." Sakura and I exchanged looks. From all the victims' wounds that he had listed, the guy knew what he was doing. He knew that he hit the victims' vital spots, so why did he miss so badly on all of his other shots? "Fifth one, another headshot. Sixth one, shot through the neck, severing her esophagus. Last one, shot straight through the heart, severing his Aorta and Pulmonary artery."

"Thank you, we'll be out in a couple minutes," Sakura told him as he dismissed himself. We immediately looked at each other, knowing fully well what happened. "He's no bad shot," Sakura said.

"He's an excellent shot," I agreed. He had misfired some shots on purpose to make it look like he was a novice, but this guy was no joke, he knew that all of the victims he had hit in the vital spots would die.

"Let's call it a night," Sakura declared with a yawn.

"Tired already? Here I was thinking you could keep up," I teased.

"I can keep up just fine, its you that I'm worried about," she shot back. I scoffed before leaving the morgue with her next to me.

I drove us to our hotel, rather motel. It was a rundown facility with only two floors. We walked to the receptionist and got our room key and pulled our bags with us. Our room was on the second floor, all the way at the end. I lugged my duffel bag over my shoulder while Sakura took her bags with her. I had offered to carry them, but she refused, saying her pride would be too wounded. The room wasn't anything spectacular, with its two beds and small television along with a simple bathroom. It wasn't anything like my room in San Francisco, but it would have to do.

"I call first for the shower!" Sakura yelled. She took a change of clothes in with her and shut the door. Within 20 seconds, the shower turned on, along with an audible, "aahhhh". I chuckled to myself and unpacked my bag while pulling out a tank top and a pair of shorts. I turned on the TV while Sakura showered and watched some basketball highlights to pass the time.

"The Lakers are really building for the future here, Shaq, they have assembled a fine class of young talent, and I can't wait to see this team in 4 years," one of the guys at the desk said. As far as I was concerned, I didn't really have a favorite team in basketball, in football I was a Jaguars fan, obviously, but I didn't watch enough basketball to invest my interest into any specific team. It was fun to watch from time to time, though.

My brother's best friend, Shisui, was really into basketball, and he was really good, too. He played on the high school's varsity team for a year, but he moved away after Itachi was accused of murdering my parents. I think he went in Salt Lake City, though I wasn't sure if he was still there or not. I sat up with a jolt, maybe he knew where Itachi was! I decided that I would look him up sometime in the future and visit him to see if he knew anything as well as to check up on him. Shisui was always nice to me, so I owed him somewhat.

I heard the shower turn off so I turned the TV off and got ready to take my own shower. She stepped out, hair wet and wearing a tank top and shorts, pretty much what I was going to wear except my clothes were made for males. She looked stunning, so I averted my eyes to prevent myself from doing anything. I walked past her and closed the door. I leaned back and let out a deep breath.

"Damn," I breathed out before taking my clothes off and stepping into the shower. I washed my own spiky black hair with shampoo and conditioner before washing my body. It was a quick shower, only 3 minutes, but it did the job.

I walked out fresh and my bangs fell over my forehead and around my face like they usually did. I slipped into my black tank top and shorts. I quickly brushed my teeth and walked out right to my bed. I fell onto it face first without even putting the blanket on and instantly felt tired, but not too tired. I noticed that Sakura was nowhere in sight until I heard a creak outside. I walked out and into the black night, the stars littering the sky and the moon shining brightly. Sakura was staring at the night sky, adoring its beauty, losing herself in it even. I stood next to her, inhaling her cherry blossom scent silently while closing my eyes and focusing on the noises of the night. The crickets chirped a rhythm in perfect coalition with each other while you could hear some of the people downstairs talking. The TVs provided more background noises, I could hear the news and someone watching Spiderman 2 by us.

"I remember watching that movie a long time ago," Sakura said, still staring at the sky, "My dad took me on opening day, he was so excited, Spider-Man was his favorite ever since he was little."

"I always liked Batman," I replied.

"Figures, you're always brooding in silence, sometimes I really do wonder if you sneak off at nights and beat criminals up," she joked.

"You don't know me," I shot back.

"Uh-huh, sure, Sasuke."

"I've never met a more annoying girl," I muttered to her.

"I've never met a boy I've hated more."

"Lying is a bad habit." She went quiet after that before looking up at me and smiling.

For the first time in I don't know how long, I mirrored her smile with my own, sharing my feelings without saying a word. She laid her head on my shoulder, her damp hair cooling my bones, still sporting that smile that got me so weak. I stared up at the night sky, wondering if I should even try with her. She was too good for me, I didn't deserve someone like her, someone happy. All I was, what I represent, is nothing but pain and loss, of what a life of tragedy can do to a person. I shouldn't, I shouldn't put her through being with me, so I would enjoy being her friend, being her partner, but that was the most I could be without breaking her heart. "Let's go sleep," I whispered to her. She nodded and followed me back into the room. I laid down on my bed and turned off the lamp. "Good night, Sasuke," she said softly. "Good night, Sakura."


	4. The Catch

I kissed her passionately, feeling everything her plump, pink lips had to offer. I held her hips and pulled her close to me before backing away and resting my forehead onto hers. She ran her fingers over my lips while smiling sweetly at me.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said, trailing off.

"Sasuke. Sasuke!" I awoke to her voice jolting me out of my slumber. I blinked a couple times before looking at her. "It's 8, go get ready," she ordered.

I grumbled about how annoying she was before grabbing a change of clothes and disappearing into the bathroom. I emerged 10 minutes later, clad in a short sleeve Jaguars shirt and a pair of black joggers. She wore a plain black shirt with jeans, we looked like regular people, which was the goal. People trusted people who looked like them more than fancy suits.

I walked behind her to the car and threw her the keys.

"You drive," I mumbled while getting into the passenger seat. She smirked at me while getting into the driver's seat.

"Poor Sasuke, you must be so tired, that's why I woke you up after I was done, cause I'm considerate." I snorted, "More like annoying."

"How about you wake up first then?" She suggested. I pouted at her, causing her to laugh before pushing my face away. She drove off and sped to the station.

"So they guy is an expert sniper, but he made his attack look like it was done by a novice, presumably to put him under less suspicion," She explained. "We know his size and stature and have 3 names from the marketing firm without alibis, so let's get to work from there," I answered. We reached the station a little while after and started researching the names in the boardroom the police provided us with. "Jamie Richardson," Sakura said.

"5'10, 150 pounds and a schoolteacher, why was he visiting a marketing firm?" I inquired. Sakura pulled up the employee records for the firm and siphoned through them.

"Has a sister who works there, Kathleen Richardson."

"Pull up facial recognition," I told her. She did, and the cameras found Jamie at the front desk dressed in a suit and tie, not our guy.

"Next name is Howard Price," she said. Again, facial recognition found him.

"Edward Castliofi." Facial recognition found him. None of these guys were our perp.

"Maybe he snuck in?" Sakura suggested.

"Doubt that, receptionist would've confronted him about it and he would've drawn unwanted attention. There were also no other trucks or cleaning services scheduled except for the two paper guys, and they were nowhere near the rooftop." We thought about all other possibilities in silence for a couple minutes before she broke the silence.

"Are there any cameras on the staircase of any other floor?"

"No, but if we go back and ask them to rewind the footage we could find whatever you're looking for."

"Let's go," she got up and briskly walked out, leaving me running after her.

"Why the sudden interest?" I asked when I caught up. "What if we've been looking at this the wrong way? What if instead of some newcomer going into the building or sneaking in, the perp was already inside the building?"

"You think he's an employee," I summarized.

"Check the company's employee record for any hits," she told me. I looked through the accounts for anyone who looked anything remotely like the man caught on camera.

"I've got 6 guys that we're looking at, all around 6'1 and around 175-185 pounds," I announced to her while she drove to the marketing firm.

"Criminal records," she said. I checked off three more names, none of which had criminal records.

"We have Jeff Moziato, charged with petty larceny and assault 6 years ago. Martin Forbury, charged with petty arson. Arthur Shelby, charged with illegal possession of a weapon and public intoxication, and get this, he was a military man, sniper in the 14th platoon. If I was a betting man, than my money's on Shelby, he called out sick a couple days prior to the attack, too."

"What department does he work in?"

"Logistics, 4th floor," I told her. We reached the firm and flashed our badges to the receptionist before walking straight to the CEO's office.

"Wait! Mr. Patel isn't expecting visitors!" His secretary protested who we happily ignored. We walked into his office to see him enjoying a cigarette while talking to someone who seemed to be his wife.

"Sweetheart, I'll call you back," he said before hanging up the phone and putting out the cigarette. "What can I do for you, agents?"

"We need to see that footage again, but this time rewind it further," Sakura demanded. He pulled up the footage and turned his computer to us. We saw the figure standing before the door to the rooftop.

"Rewind it," I asked. He did so until we told him not to. We saw a man walking out of the 3rd floor, not the 4th. "Do you have an employee named Arthur Shelby? If so, when does he take his lunch?" I asked.

"Employees usually take lunch around 1-2, we don't give them fixed timestamps," the man replied.

"Were you aware of his criminal record when you hired him?"

"I was."

"So why hire him?"

"He was...different, as in he was particularly perceptive and his skills were sharp."

"Interesting choice of words," Sakura muttered to me. He had to be our guy.

"Why did he take a couple of days off?"

"You would have to ask the logistics manager on the 3rd floor that."

"Ok, by the way, do you guys have a bathroom I can use?"

"All of our bathroom facilities are located on the 3rd floor."

"Hm, interesting," I replied before leaving the office.

"So he changes in the bathroom and takes the stairs up so that no one can see his attire," Sakura concluded. We went to the 4th floor and went to the corner office of the logistics manager. Her office was littered with awards and pictures of her family, basic scenery of an office. "Hi, we're agents Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha with the FBI, we just have a question for you," Sakura said.

"Linda Hayes, how can I help you?"

"Why did Arthur Shelby take a few days off from work?"

"He said he was visiting his mother over in San Antonio."

"Thank you," Sakura said before leaving. "By the way, is he in today?" She shook her head.

"His mom died in 2015," I whispered to Sakura as we went to the elevator.

"We need his address, he might already be on a plane out of here," she told me. I called one of the guys at the police station and quickly got the address for his apartment.

"Sakura," she turned to me, "use the siren." She nodded and proceeded to do 120 on the way, siren blaring the whole way.

"Lieutenant! We got him, name is Arthur Shelby!" I told her over the phone. "Alright, we're on the way," she said before hanging up. We got to his building and ran up to his 2nd floor apartment.

"Shelby! FBI! Open the door!" Sakura shouted while banging on the door. When no response was given, we kicked the door open to see that things were scattered everywhere. I ran and checked his closet to see numerous pairs of clothes missing. "There's a safe!" Sakura yelled to me. She pulled out her pistol and shot the lock open, revealing an empty safe.

"He's missing clothes and there's no bags in sight, he's probably at Dallas International right now, he found out that we knew somehow, he must've gotten a tip," I stated.

"We have to go," Sakura said before running to the car. I ran behind her while dialing the chief of police.

"Chief! Put an APB out on Arthur Shelby, 37 years old, brown hair slicked back, 6'1 and 179 pounds at the airport, now! Tell TSA!"

"You got it," he responded. I hung up as we pulled into the airport. TSA was already waiting, and they had halted all flights going out right now in an effort to prevent Shelby from leaving and escaping our jurisdiction.

"Look everywhere! You know what he looks like!"

"What if he dyed his hair or something?" One of the security guys asked.

"He didn't have enough time to do that, he was tipped most probably while on his way to work today, he would've have to have gotten hair dye and waited for it to dry, which would've taken a couple hours itself, not counting the time it took him to pack and book a flight as well as to get here," Sakura explained, "Now split up, and find him!"

"He's most probably trying to go international so he can get out of our jurisdiction," I told Sakura.

"Let's canvas them all ourselves then," she replied. We ran to the international flights and scanned the area. One was going to Rome, but he wasn't there. Another to Sicily, still no sign of him. One to Greece, but he was still a ghost. One to India, not there.

"Sasuke!" She tugged my sleeve and pointed to a Starbucks where someone was sipping on coffee with a hood over his head and sunglasses on his face. Worth a shot, after all he did look to be hiding from someone. We inched our way closer to him, slowly studying his features. Looked pretty tall and pretty slim. Caucasian, just like Shelby. Didn't have a mustache like Shelby, but he could've shaved it off right before leaving, especially because it was sloppy. There were still hairs poking out and cuts above his lip, like he shaved in a hurry. My fingers inched closer to the holsters at the side of my joggers where my guns were hidden. We walked close enough to see hair poking out from beneath the hood. Brown hair.

"Arthur Shelby?" Sakura asked.

He took off.

Found him.

Sakura and I gave chase, running after him through hordes of people crowded around us. My legs pumped faster and faster as I shoved people out of my way en route to Shelby. He was a runner, but I spotted TSA moving to intercept him. He turned around and tried to get onto the escalator, but I reached my arm out and grabbed a handful of his shirt in my fist. I pulled hard and yanked him back. He flailed and fought against me while I pinned him to the ground and cuffed him.

"Fucking cocksuckers! Assholes!" He screamed at us. I just smirked at a giggling Sakura and shoved him ahead of me while gripping his cuffs from behind. I read his rights to him while walking him down to the nearest police car.

"Nice try getting your mustache off," I taunted, to which he growled and cursed at me some more.

"We just want to talk, Shelby," Sakura told him.

"You think you two are so great, huh? Well how about fuck you both to hell!"

"Creative, walk faster," I said while tightening his cuffs. Sakura and I escorted him outside, where a police car was waiting for him, along with two cops.

"Thanks, we'll get him down to the station," one of them said. I nodded and walked back to our car with Sakura.

"We just need a statement now, right?" She asked me.

"Very perceptive," I replied.

"Did you jus-"

"Yes, I did," I cut her off, knowing exactly what she would say next. She pouted at me and drove off towards the station while blasting some music.

"We can finally not speed and stuff," she proclaimed while nodding her head along to the music.

"Hn." I looked out the window at the shining sun. It covered the city in its rays, bathing it in its golden light as we drove through the city at a leisurely pace.

"So...who's going to get it out of him?" She asked while turning the music down.

"I'll do it, you watch and see how I do it, cause in the future you'll be doing stuff like this," I answered, leaning my head on the window. We pulled into the station a little bit later and walked into the interrogation room where they were keeping Shelby. He was cuffed to the table and sitting there, scowling at the wall. "He looks happy," I muttered before grabbing a cup of coffee and sipping on it.

"Do your thing, agent, just don't rough him up too bad, his lawyer's on the way," the chief told me. I nodded and sipped on my coffee some more while Sakura enlightened me as to what the top 10 movies on IMDB's top 250 list were, just like before. Shelby's lawyer arrived right when Sakura was telling me the number one movie was a Shawshank Redemption, one of my favorites. He went inside and started whispering to Shelby while I finished my coffee.

"We'll watch those movies once we're back in Jacksonville, right now I got a date with a lawyer and a sniper," I told her, throwing my cup in the trash.

"Don't have too much fun," she called out when I walked into the interrogation room. I took a seat and opened the case file that was placed before me.

"Well, Mr.-"

"He admits to doing it so long as he doesn't get the chair," the lawyer said. I closed the case file and nodded.

"We have a deal, Mr. Shelby admits to doing it and probably gets life in prison," I restated before walking out.

"Um…" Sakura trailed off and cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Must've been my birthday," I told her.

"Really?"

"No, idiot my birthday's in July."

"Mine's in...what's the date?"

"March 13th."

"Oh, in 15 days! I'm turning a quarter of a century old!"

"Old and annoying," I muttered.

"25 is not old! You're gonna be it in 4 months!" She protested. I poked her forehead and smirked while she glared.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here, it smells beef jerky," I said.

"Don't we need boarding passes for the return flight?"

"We get them at the airport, now come on." We said goodbye to the chief and lieutenant and dropped by the hotel to get our stuff our things and get onto the next flight to Jacksonville.

"Next flight is in...an hour and a half," Sakura said while checking her phone for the flight times.

"Let's hurry then." I gathered my things and she gathered hers. We sped to the car rental and dropped off the vehicle. 45 minutes left. We were gonna have to be quick. I sped up into a speed walk with Sakura following suit. I pulled up the virtual boarding passes that Ibiki sent me and printed out our actual boarding passes at the kiosk. I handed Sakura her pass and motioned her towards security. Most of the flights had been delayed about 15 minutes because of Shelby showing up at the airport, but luckily, the holdup didn't cause our flight to be bumped down. We made it through security with 15 minutes to boarding, so I slowed down and walked calmly to our gate.

"We literally just got the gate and I'm already bored," Sakura exhaled as we sat down and waited for our group to be called for boarding.

"If you want I could start dancing around and pull out my guns for your entertainment," I mumbled.

"You don't have to be sarcastic, you dick."

"Who said I was being sarcastic?"

"Jerk."

"Good one, my feelings hurt now." She laughed at my remark and laid her head onto my shoulder.

"Group 6 for boarding," the gatekeeper called. Sakura groaned and dragged herself up in a dramatic fashion for no reason in particular. We handed our passes to the lady and boarded the plane. I sat down in my window seat and she sat in her middle seat, just like last time, except she didn't wait for the flight to take off to lean her head onto my shoulder and fall asleep. The feeling of her sleeping on me drove me to become drowsy myself, and once the plane had taken off, I laid my head onto her cherry-scented hair and knocked out for the duration of the flight.


	5. Theater

I blinked and came back to reality minutes before we landed while Sakura stirred beneath me. I lifted my head off of hers and she removed hers from my shoulder. She yawned and gave me a tired smile before putting her forehead against my arm. I ruffled her hair to keep her awake and pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It was evening, the sun was about to set and bring rise to the moon as well as the night, at least my sleep schedule would be fine.

I grabbed my bag and Sakura's from the overhead compartment and walked out of the plane to be greeted by the airport stores of Jacksonville. Sakura took her bag from me and rolled on ahead while humming a song to herself, probably Imagine Dragons or Charlie Puth from what I could hear. I walked up to next to her and listened to her quietly while enjoying the simplicity of just walking with her with no sniper to worry about, at least I hope.

We made it outside and walked to our respective cars in the parking lot. I drove out of the lot and waited for her to follow until making my next right and turning onto the town's roads.

Jacksonville was always prettier at night in my opinion, from the neon signs illuminating the sky and the calm atmosphere surrounding it, like a perfect contrast to the busy streets of a city like New York or LA. I liked it, it's why I never left the place, I couldn't bring myself to move out and leave everything behind, and I'm glad that I stayed.

I rolled to a stop at a red light and looked up at the moon, watching it do nothing before the light turned green. Sakura and I reached the apartment complex and parked our cars before she grabbed my arm and steered me to face her.

"Let's go out!"

"Why?"

"We just solved our first case, this is a special occasion, Sasuke Uchiha."

"Well, Sakura Haruno, I'm sure you'll be just fine on your own." She froze and stared up at me in annoyance. I chuckled and poked her forehead before walking towards the streets.

"Where are you going?" Sakura questioned as she ran up to meet me.

"I know a good restaurant, its not far from here," I told her, watching her face light up.

The walk wasn't long at all, in fact, it only took us two minutes to reach the place, Ichiraku's. It was a restaurant facing the water with 20 tables set up and almost filled to the brim. The view was one of the best I had ever seen, not to mention the food was top notch as well as the service. I knew the chef there, Teuchi, pretty well, Naruto and I used to go there quite a lot, but we stopped coming often because of our jobs.

"Hey Ayame," I greeted Teuchi's daughter. She used to have a crush on me throughout high school, but she met a guy who came from London and last I heard they were doing well.

"Sasuke! Hi!" She smiled at me and sat us down at one of the best tables there, on the second floor overlooking the nighttime ocean.

"Thanks, this is Sakura, my partner," I introduced. Ayame greeted her and shook her hand before giving me a funny look and disappearing. I put my attention back to the menu, though I knew that I would be getting his world-class Ramen, regardless. I put the menu down and saw Sakura avert her eyes, like she had been staring at me. She put the menu down and appreciated the view, staring out at what the ocean had to offer. I watched her before turning my attention away so she wouldn't catch me in the act.

I looked down at my phone and the numerous texts Naruto had sent me while I was away. He kept talking about how he hadn't had a case ever since he caught the last guy and how bored he was. He told Kakashi to give him something to do so Kakashi made him reorganize files, which made him even more upset. Most of the messages were him ranting about how bored he was, so I shut off my phone right as the food came out.

We had gotten the same thing, and one bite made me realize how much I had missed this place and I made a mental note to tell Naruto about it. Sakura gasped when she ate the food, absorbing the tastes before looking at me with wide eyes.

"This is amazing!" She whispered pretty loudly. I smirked back at her and took another bite, reminding myself that her statement was, in fact, true.

"I told you," I said to her.

"Shut up," she retorted playfully.

"Annoying," I muttered, leaving her to look up at the skies.

"What did I do to deserve this?" She called out to the heavens.

"Be annoying," I answered without looking at her. She scowled at her food but forgot her troubles after taking another bite. I watched the waves crash against the shore, sending the saltwater scattering along the sidewalk where a family was walking. I smiled at the sight of them laughing and whining at the same time from the newfound wetness that filled their clothes. The little boy started laughing as his older sister complained about her new shirt being drenched and her parents started snickering at the sight of their daughter's despair. I remembered how my parents use to tease me all the time about my clothes and how they were always too big on me. "People are going to think you're weird," my dad used to say.

"Sasuke?" I looked at Sakura, who was eyeing me.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." She was lying, she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. I didn't ask about it, instead I opted to listen to her go on about how beautiful Switzerland was. She had gone for vacation and fell in love with it.

"Hiking thousands of feet up at the Matterhorn was awesome! We have to go one time, Sasuke," she insisted.

"Unless there's a murder I'm not going anywhere," I replied. She pouted and I held in a chuckle before talking again. "Besides, it can't top Italy," I challenged.

"Already has," she shot back.

"Based on what?"

"Me."

"Your opinion doesn't matter, Sakura."

"Maybe not to you because you suck, but my opinion is the most important to me."

"Hn, we'll have to change that."

"I won't go to Italy until you come to Switzerland."

"Fine," I sighed. She beamed at me victoriously and finished her food happily. "Just so you know, we don't really take a lot of vacations because of what we do," I told her.

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes at me, causing me to pout into my glass of wine. "Aw, so cute," she teased. I scowled at her and she just smirked back, enjoying the fact that she was so thoroughly getting on my nerves.

"Why are you so damn annoying," I mumbled.

"Because its fun."

"Fucking girl," I muttered.

"Come again?"

"Hn."

"That's what I thought." I called Ayame over for the bill and took out my wallet only for Sakura to swoop in and pay everything, including the tip. "What?" She questioned, feigning innocence as I narrowed my eyes at her. I took the money and counted $54 in total. I handed her $27 back and put in $27 of my own before she complained. I caught her arm and looked her in the eye. We stared each other down for a bit before she slumped back into her chair in defeat while I smirked victoriously at her.

We got up and left the beautiful restaurant and walked on the boardwalk for a bit. I eyed the closed game booths, remembering how my mother used to bring me here and hand me some cash to win things. I used to have so many stuffed animals in my room that she had to give some to Naruto's parents to make space.

"I used to be the best thrower," I murmured.

"Growing up here must've been fun," Sakura said softly.

"What was it like? In Jersey?" I surprised myself asking her that question, but then again, she made me different.

"I lived in a rural area, so it wasn't loud like the city, but it wasn't as peaceful and serene as it is here, this place is honestly magical. I can't lie though, I miss my friends and sometimes my parents, but I text them everyday," she summarized. "Though I would be really lonely if it wasn't for you," she whispered softly before turning her face away from me. I messed up her hair and she glared at me before laughing while I chuckled. We walked along the boards, watching the sea wet the sand and letting the wind blow through us. It ruffled through my hair, messing it up even more. It blew Sakura's pink hair around, and somehow, it made her look even more beautiful with the moonlight glinting off her creamy skin.

I felt myself losing control, the grip that I once had on myself around women. I always had control, but not with her, this girl had put me under her spell, and I was losing myself to it at an alarming pace. I looked away from her and closed my eyes while leaning on the railings, regaining my posture. I opened my eyes to see her staring at me, eyes shining, just like back at the Dallas station. I met her gaze with my dark eyes and we stood there under the moonlight, entranced with each other. Onyx vs Emerald.

This time, however, I lost the battle.

I thought about my decision back in Dallas, of how I would support her as a friend, as a partner. Maybe I was being stupid, maybe I was throwing away something good because I couldn't deal with myself, maybe I was, at this point, I don't even know. I was just confused. We walked back in silence to our apartments, which was probably for the best. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything, opting to just observe the area instead of looking at her in fear of seeing emerald again.

We made it back and walked up the stairs, still in silence, which was making me uncomfortable. I went to my apartment with her behind me and opened it. I turned around to say bye, but before I could, she hugged me. I recovered and hugged her back, inhaling her intoxicating cherry blossom scent, my addiction.

"Bye, Sasuke," she whispered.

"Annoying," I whispered back as she broke free and pouted at me. I poked her forehead and closed the door before she could react.

"Uchiha!" I heard her growl from behind the door, causing me to chuckle.

"Bye, Sakura," I cooed before walking away from the door. I had already unpacked my bag beforehand, so all that was left was for me to get some sleep and enjoy the free day I had tomorrow. However, sleep didn't come as easily as I had hoped. I tossed and turned and growled in my frustration. I finally gave up and threw my covers off in anger at my insomnia and slipped on a shirt before walking out of my place and out of the building to walk around.

It was around 2 AM, so there was pretty much no one on the streets and none of the stores were open. Only a bar on the corner of a street had its lights on and a couple of people were in it, so I made that my destination. I crossed over and walked into the small bar. The bartender nodded his head and greeting which I returned before taking a seat.

"Jim Beam," I told him. He poured me the whiskey and I didn't hesitate, to take a sip as soon as I got it. The alcohol burned my throat, but I was used to it. I sat there and watched a rerun of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" while sipping on my whiskey, paying no attention to the few people who exited and entered the bar.

"I hate those scripted interviews," the bartender said.

"God forbid they speak their minds," I replied.

He snorted and said, "Ain't that the truth." He went over to serve someone else who had walked in, leaving me to silently watch Jimmy Kimmel interview Denzel Washington, who I actually liked a lot. His best movies are some classics, I really couldn't deny that to anyone.

"He loves to talk, don't he?" A girl sat down next to me and looked at me, smiling. "I'm Brooke," she smiled and reached out her hand. I didn't shake it, preferring to take a sip of my whiskey then humor her. She faltered and put her hand down at my refusal, but it didn't discourage her. "You look awfully lonely," she commented.

"My choice," I replied curtly.

"Yeah, you seem like the type who doesn't like being in crowds," she said.

"So, why are you here, then?"

"Well, I got a couple of friends who're looking for a good time that I was sure you could provide."

"I look like a dealer?"

"Not the type of fun I was talking about." I scoffed at that and didn't say anything after. "Come on, relax a little bit, we just want someone to keep us company."

"That's nice."

"Handsome man like you shouldn't spend the night alone." I ignored her, though her and her friends were attractive, I didn't really feel like having sex tonight. "Come on, blonde and two brunettes, don't worry, you won't have to do any work. We'll have a triple team," she whispered deviously into my ear. It sounded good, especially since I had all that sexual tension in my bones from being around Sakura so much. I could use something to get her off my mind. She reached down and trailed her hands around my thighs, moving them up with every breath.

"Fine," I sighed and left some money for the bartender. The girl took me outside where her friends were waiting and giggling, probably a little tipsy.

"Where you from?" She asked.

"California," I lied.

"Well, Cali, follow us," she said while her friends grabbed my arms and motioned me forward. I cringed at the nickname she gave me, though it was better than her knowing my real name. We arrived at a nearby motel they were staying at, Sunset Motel, a small, one-story place that I had passed by from time to time. The girls all smiled mischievously at me as we entered their room. I walked in and immediately, they converged on me.

* * *

"No!" I screamed as I woke up with a start. I looked around, scanning my surroundings. I was back in my apartment, in my bed. I remembered leaving the girls sleeping after all we finished up at some time around 4 or 5 AM.

It was just like every other time, me violently thrusting and finishing, images flashing and scaring me, me regretting it. I always regretted it, but I did it anyways. Why? I didn't even know.

I groaned and got out of bed and into the shower. I let the water fall on my face as I closed my eyes and sighed in relief. Why did I agree to that last night? I regretted it just like the others, but I still tortured myself for no reason.

Sakura. It was because of Sakura.

All that pent up desire, I just had to unleash it, but I only ended up making it worse, I needed her, but that was selfish, she deserves better.

I walked out of the shower, dried myself, and walked out. I sat down with a bowl of cereal and stared at it, thinking about literally nothing, I just sat there and stared at it. Then, I groaned really loudly and smacked my forehead onto the table, why am I like this? My phone buzzed and I saw a text from Naruto about going to see a movie, so I threw away the cereal, a shame, and slipped into black sweatpants and a white tank top.

I walked out and saw Naruto waiting for me with a grin plastered onto his face.

"Have fun last night?" I looked at him in confusion before narrowing my eyes at him.

"How'd you know?"

"Heard you walk into your apartment at like 5."

"Why were you up so early?"

"I have a really bad sleep schedule, you know how I am."

"Unfortunately."

"Hey!" We walked down to the parking garage, where some guy was talking to his wife on the phone.

"Baby, you know how hard work has been, I'm sorry I haven't called often, I'll make it up to you," he rambled on. I snorted and got into my car. Guy was in his late 30s probably, and definitely wasn't on a business trip from the car he was driving and the fact that he seemed excited to go wherever he was going, probably to see his mistress. I turned on some music and Naruto got into the passenger seat while texting someone.

"You finally get a girl's number?"

"Haha, funny. I'm talking to this girl I met at a restaurant while I was working that case last week, she's really nice and pretty!"

"What's her name?"

"Rachel."

"Should've told her your name was Ross."

"Why?"

"Nevermind." I drove off and to the nearby AMC, a place Naruto and I frequently visited to see our movies. "What're we seeing?"

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"The new Spiderman movie just came out!"

"I forgot all about that," I answered honestly. With all the work I've been doing, I forgot that the movie came out a couple of days ago. We walked into the theater and quickly bought our tickets before heading to the snack stand. "I'll go to our seats," I told Naruto, who was waiting in line.

"You don't want?" I shook my head, this food was way too unhealthy and way too expensive, it was a losing deal. I walked into one of the theaters and went to our seats at the edge and towards the top of the theater. Good seats. I checked my phone and saw that Sakura had texted me a couple minutes ago. She also wanted to go see Spiderman, but in a couple hours. I texted her back saying I would meet her at the theater in a couple hours, why not see it back to back?

I would've said no to anyone else, but I was always looking for excuses to be with Sakura, though I would never tell her that to her face.

"Hey," Naruto said with a large bucket of popcorn, soda, and a couple of candy bars.

"How do you eat that junk?" I asked, scrunching my nose in disgust.

"Being healthy is no fun, just look at you!"

"At least I'm not getting chubby." He opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't find the words, so he just glared at me while I smirked. The trailers were about to begin, so I checked my phone and saw that Sakura had texted back saying not to keep her waiting. I turned it off and shoved it into my pocket right when the trailers began.

One by one, other movies were advertised with 2-3 minute clips: Black Panther, Justice League, some other movies that I didn't know about before today. The lights dimmed finally and the movie started to play on the white canvas, lighting up the otherwise dreary and dark theater. Hushed whispers sounded throughout the crowd as the movie played, capturing Naruto's attention easily.

I tried my best to focus on the movie, but I found myself distracted by the ticking sound of a clock. The methodical and rhythmic ticking was driving me crazy to the point where I couldn't even sit still. I started fidgeting and moving in my seat, trying to block out the ticking noise, but it wouldn't go away, what was going on? I studied the people around me for watches, but found none loud enough to be causing me so much anxiety. Where the hell was it coming from? I looked down and saw a faint red light blinking beneath my seat. There was something under me.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked when I crouched down and looked under my seat. I wanted it to be my imagination, I wanted it to be some toy a kid left behind, or maybe some theatrical effects from the movie, but what it actually was was so much worse.

"Naruto," I whispered, "Get everyone out of here, now." He froze at my tone and crouched down next to me to see the same thing I saw. "Go!" I half-whispered.

He ran out of the room, and in seconds, security was in there, gathering all the confused moviegoers and escorting them out while I pulled the bomb out from under my seat. There were so many questions going through my head, but I couldn't focus on that right now, I had to defuse this thing. I took a deep breath and called in my bomb-defusing training that Jugo had given me. Judging from the size and wiring of the bomb, its blast radius looked to be about 30 feet, enough to blow the theater I was currently in to ashes. I wiped the sweat from my brow and pulled out a small Swiss Army Knife I carried with me. It was a small blade, but it would have to do. I pulled the cover off of the device to reveal three wires: blue, red, and green, relatively simple, until I saw the timer. 10 seconds, defusing the thing would take me 30 seconds, at least, not even Jugo could do this without being a couple seconds too late, and he was the best bomb expert I knew.

So I took the bomb in my hand, and proceeded to heave the thing to the front of the theater so the explosion wouldn't kill me, hopefully.

Throwing the bomb took about 3 seconds, I had 7 to spare. I ran to the exit of the theater in the back, 3 seconds left. I shoved the door open and made sure it was shut. 1 second left.

"Please don't kill me," I mumbled to myself.

BOOM! The bomb exploded, sending the doors I was standing behind flying with me. I must've been flying for a little bit, that was pretty cool, until my back slammed into the wall, hard.

"Ack!" I spit out some blood and fell to the ground face first. Flames started to surround me, and I began to realize that if I didn't move soon, the flames would form a circle around me and trap me in their clutches. I grunted in pain as I dragged myself to my feet and staggered to the the front of the theater. I made it to the snack stand and thought about taking a cup and filling it up with ice water for myself, but the theater would probably charge me anyways, so I decided to save my money. I stumbled through the ashes and held my breath as long as I could to avoid inhaling too much smoke to avoid possible death. Thankfully, the AMC wasn't too big, so the entrance was in sight after a little bit of me stumbling and staggering through the place until I reached those glass doors that police were crowding around, keeping civilians and reporters back.

I hid behind the wall for a minute, breathing hard and grimacing in pain as I held my stomach. I had definitely sustained a couple of broken ribs from my collision with the wall, and my head was still ringing from impact, I had a concussion as well from my own diagnosis. I was probably going to lose consciousness soon, so I might as well walk out and collapse in front of them so they knew I was still alive. I inhaled and turned to the glass doors before shoving them open and stumbling out looking like a zombie. Immediately, reporters were doing their best to swarm me while snapping pictures, which wasn't so great for my head. I winced and covered my face before I heard a loud gunshot sound through the air. That silenced the crowd quickly, much to my relief.

"Naruto! Gather all the cops and get to the station, we have work to do!" I heard a familiar voice yell before the source of the voice turned to me. I stumbled and almost tripped, but Kakashi caught me before I could. "You could never stay out of trouble," he muttered to me, eyes twinkling with relief.

"You knew I hated listening to other people," I mumbled back to him.

"I called you an ambulance, how about you try listening to them, please?"

"I'll think about it," I croaked out weakly before spitting out blood and coughing. I would've fallen to my knees if Kakashi wasn't supporting me due to the immense pain that was stirring in my insides. I might have some internal bleeding, though hopefully, that won't be the case, internal bleeding is the worst. "Fuck," I groaned, which Kakashi scowled at.

"Must you curse?"

"I'm dying, let me be," I croaked back, feeling my vision haze and darken.

"Let's go!" Kakashi half-carried me to the ambulance that had arrived onto the scene. I must've been in real bad shape because I didn't even hear it approach, in fact, my ears were still ringing from the explosion.

"Move!" I heard a voice yell through the crowd. I stayed conscious long enough to see pink hair shoving reporters aside with ease while making her way to the ambulance. I chuckled weakly as Sakura took me from Kakashi and helped lift me onto the bed in the ambulance. "Hey," she smiled at me, but I could see the concern in her eyes as well as happiness, probably because I was still alive.

"Hi," I managed to croak out. She took my hand in hers and intertwined her fingers with mine before smiling sweetly at me.

"Get some rest," she whispered, and it was hard to argue with her due to the fact that I was already losing consciousness, the last image in my head was her running her thumb over my knuckle, soothing me into unconsciousness.


	6. Hospitalized

"Itachi! Wait!" The child version of me screamed for my brother, screamed for him to come back, to stay with me. "Don't leave!" I yelled, but the shadow of his figure had already disappeared, leaving me with the dead bodies of our parents, blood pooling around my feet. "Please...don't go," I cried out, tears falling from eyes with each word I uttered, like talking was forbidden.

I knew it was a nightmare, but I couldn't escape, I was forever bound to this dream world, to this eternal nightmare, to this hell. It felt like I was already dead when I visited this place, like my very life was sucked out of me, replaced with a black hole. I tried to move and run after Itachi, but my feet refused to budge, keeping me frozen in a puddle of blood belonging to the people who raised me and gave birth to me.

"Mom," I cried out, reaching my hand out and touching her long, black hair with it. She was always there for me, consoling me whenever I cried or got hurt, making me my favorite food, watching cartoons with me and paying attention whenever I explained something to her, even though I knew she was only doing it for me.

"Dad," I whispered, shaking his shoulder and trying to wake him up. My father would always come home from work and sit down with me, asking what I did in school and laughing when I told him me and Naruto got in trouble for doing stuff we weren't supposed to. I remembered how he always sat down at the foot of my bed and waited for me to fall asleep before leaving, how he would always get me and Itachi games and toys to play with. He would join in too, even after long shifts at work, he would dedicate his free time to his family.

My feet started moving, they were finally unbound from whatever shackles had them, but I didn't want to move, I was too scared. I looked in the direction that Itachi had ran off to and called out to him. "Itachi! Itachi, please come back!" I wanted to shout, but no noise came out of my mouth.

Itachi was the best big brother I could've ever asked for. He would calm me down when I got nightmares, watch movies with me, take me out and not tell our parents about our secret adventures. I remembered when he turned down his friends who were going to the movies because he didn't want to leave me alone in our house, whatever was happening around us, Itachi's first thought was always to make sure I was safe.

Now, it was just me, alone, trembling, no one here, just me and my tortured soul. Just me. I woke up in a hospital bed with aching bones and tired eyes. I looked around my room to see some get well cards and flowers, all from my friends at the station, Jugo, Suigetsu, Kakashi, and Naruto, though I was a little surprised to see nothing from Sakura, but I vividly remembered her holding my hand and telling me to sleep.

The moonlight shone through my room's window, providing a brief bit of light so that I could see a person walk through my room's door. I didn't need to see her though, once that cherry blossom aroma hit my nose, I just leaned back against my pillow and inhaled her addictive scent, why did she have to be so perfect? Why couldn't she be ugly and smell like Naruto? It would make my life so much easier, but then again, when was luck ever on my side?

She walked in, looking as flawless as ever, her bright green eyes shining in the dark, like a speck of hope fighting off the cold darkness, that's some symbolism right there.

"You're awake…" she whispered in slight surprise before her expression morphed from shock to fury.

"Sakura?" I had to admit, the sight of her emerald eyes glowing with anger was kind of scary, not that I would admit it. "What the hell!" She whispered harshly so the other people wouldn't be woken up from her rant.

"All I wanted to do was watch a movie and I get a call saying you were almost blown up! What's wrong with you?! And then you call me annoying, you fucking asshole!" She tried taking deep breaths to calm herself, but she was still a little upset. I watched her sink into the chair she had pulled up next to my bed and put her head in her hands. "I was so scared when I got that call, you have no idea, Sasuke, you scared the hell out of me," she murmured softly, not daring to meet my onyx stare. I reached out my hand and brought hers into mine. She looked up at me and I smiled at her and she smiled back. It was rare, as in me smiling, in fact, before I met her, I couldn't remember the last time I genuinely smiled at someone with as much warmth as I could. I pulled her into me and she wrapped her arms around me gently. I dug my face into her shoulder, not daring to move, I was too comfortable, and from the way she sighed and buried her face into my neck. I heard a muffled sound come out of her, as if she was trying to say something.

"What?" I asked.

She pulled her head out slightly and muttered, "If you didn't want to go the movies with me, you could've just said no, you didn't have to try and blow yourself up." I paused for a second, before laughing really loudly and clamping a hand over my mouth to try and stifle it. She backed up and looked me in the eye for a few seconds before we both burst out laughing like kids. The sound was foreign to me at first, I mean I basically never smiled, but laughing? I knew for a fact that I hadn't done that in at least 17 years, that was a guarantee. Have I chuckled? Yeah, but laugh? I thought I had forgotten how to do that, and I'm not even kidding. So while I sat there laughing my ass off with the pinkette, I started to feel something churning inside me, something that I had tried so hard to throw away and forbid myself from ever thinking again. We stopped laughing and I slumped back into my bed, still smiling slightly.

"Why was that so funny?" Sakura asked. "I have no idea," I responded honestly. She smiled and took my hand in hers again, intertwining our fingers. We stayed like that in the darkness for an hour, silently looking at each other with our hands joined together. She put her head down on my bed and closed her eyes, her hand still safely in my grasp. Her pink hair spilled onto the bed, some of it brushing my sides, it's softness only comforted me more. I watched her silently as she breathed quietly, lips parted and eyes closed. Most would've thought it was weird that I was staring at her like this, but I didn't, because I knew what I had felt earlier in my stomach, I knew what I had felt this whole time, I knew why I behaved so differently around her, why I was so happy around her, like the darkness wasn't drowning me anymore, because she was my light, she was changing me from the cold person I was to the person I wanted to be. So I looked at her and closed my own eyes knowing with certainty, that I was in love with Sakura Haruno.

* * *

I slept like a baby. No nightmares, no haunting images of my parents, only pink. All I saw was pink trees, petals bristling in the wind, some brushing against my face, sending waves of euphoria through me. She wasn't there when I woke up, probably because she had to go to work or Ibiki would have her head.

I sighed and turned on the TV to watch the news.

"The police have not found any trace of the person who left the bomb at the AMC yesterday, which wounded an FBI agent named Sasuke Uchiha. He is recovering right now, but his heroism should be-" I changed the channel so I didn't have to listen to their heroism crap, that stuff made me sick, I didn't even disarm the bomb.

"Hey," Kakashi knocked on my door, alerting me to his presence. I nodded at him and turned my attention back to the TV, which was playing Goodfellas. "Two broken ribs, another one cracked, no internal bleeding, though, a couple of cuts, but no debris snuck into your flesh, you're one lucky boy," he told me.

I snorted at that, "Am I?"

"Fair point, got me there," he replied, casually leaning on the wall.

"You guys find the perp, yet?" He shook his head.

"Its weird, there's no missing camera footage, yet there's no sign of anyone placing the bomb." I leaned my head back against the bedframe and thought about it, the theater cameras have 24-hour surveillance, so there would have to be something in the footage showing something, unless...I turned to Kakashi and thought about the only possibility there was.

"What if the footage was on a loop? As in the perp messed with the cameras and set them on a loop so that when we reviewed the footage it would only show footage of regular moviegoers?" He tapped his fingers on his chin, a sign of Kakashi being deep in thought, before looking back at me.

"You may be right, I'll call my guys, be back in a minute," he said before taking out his phone and walking outside. I turned my attention back to Goodfellas to see it was on commercial break, awesome.

"Damn advertisers," I cursed, those damn Dawn and Toyota commercials were sent from the devil himself, fuck off Satan. 2 more ads. A whole minute of ads passed by, torturing me, laughing at me, so cruel. I watched in disgust at some lady using a new Swiffer product to clean up her living room, I had Swiffer too, but I didn't need to see a commercial about, especially when I wanted to see Robert De Niro. The ad finally finished, and the AMC logo flashed before me, signaling the return of the movie.

"Fucking finally," I muttered.

"Why do you have to curse? It makes me seem like I raised a jerk," Kakashi scolded, walking in from his call.

"Jerk? What're you 10?"

"I'm trying to be a good role model, Sasuke," he protested. I smirked at him and turned my attention back to the movie. Kakashi pulled up a chair and sat down with me, more engrossed in the cup of pudding he was divulging in than the movie.

"I wish you had good taste in movies," I teased.

"Scooby-Doo movies are legendary, kid, never forget that," he responded. When I was younger and Kakashi had just taken me in, he would sit with me and watch movies like Scooby-Doo. We would stay up until really late watching movies and stuff, Kakashi knew that those movies would distract me from my nightmares, especially since I used to love them, we made some good memories over those films.

"I'll never forget the Loch Ness Monster one and the Chupacabra one," I reminisced.

"Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster was my favorite because you almost cried you little wuss," he snickered at the memory. I scowled and looked away, cheeks tinged in red from embarrassment. "Uh oh, he's remembering," Kakashi teased.

"It came out of nowhere and I was 8!" I shouted at him, only making him laugh at my despair. I scowled at him and crossed my arms in defiance.

"You're still scared of that monster, aren't you?"

"You wish."

"Prove it."

"I'll fight the motherfucker."

"Sasuke! Language, damnit!" I smirked in amusement at him, enjoying how annoyed he got whenever I cursed. He sighed in frustration and shook his head before checking his phone and sighing even more. "I gotta go, the job calls," he declared while getting up. He ruffled my hair, messing it up, and left while I screamed obscenities at him. I turned back to the movie and continued watching until I got really tired of just sitting still. I dragged myself out of my bed, ignoring the pain that seared through my abs, until I realized something...unfortunate.

I was in a hospital gown. I groaned in frustration and settled back in my into my bed, growling in annoyance at my current predicament. I didn't know how long I would have to be here, which was even more annoying because I would be missing out on work and the freedom of walking around in actual clothes.

"Fuuuuuuck," I groaned, dragging the word out for as long as my breath allowed.

"I didn't know you were that disappointed to see me, asshole," Naruto's voice resounded through my room. I got up and frowned at the box of snacks he looked to be holding. "Its not sweets, stupid, I know you better than that," he said before dropping the box on my lap. I opened it and found a bunch of sliced tomatoes, all assorted nicely with a note from Kushina in it.

"Get better, Sasuke! Try not to blow up!" it said, bringing a small smile to my face, Kushina was too nice of a lady. I threw some of them into my mouth and closed my eyes in satisfaction as the tender tomatoes satisfied my hunger. Naruto chuckled and opened up a candy bar he had gotten from the vending machine, an expression of delight covering his features as he took a bite of the chocolate, covering his face in brown residue.

Like shit.

I ate my tomato slices with the TV on in harmony, finally I could actually eat something good instead of the crap the hospital tried to feed me.

"Thank Kushina for me," I told Naruto, who was still completely engrossed in his chocolate bar to notice anything going on around him.

"What?" He turned to ask me at least a minute later. I rolled my eyes at him and repeated myself, this time louder so that he could definitely make out what I was telling him. We sat there and watched Goodfellas all the way to the end, at least a couple of hours had passed and Naruto had to go back to work. "I've gotta help them find the bomber, but the guys at the station are already giving up! No perseverance!" Naruto complained. He was right though, for once, it had only been a day, how could they give up so easily? I checked the clock, seeing it read 3:40 PM, making me shift in my bed and lay down. I was getting restless with all this sitting, so much so that I had to take some medicine they gave me to help me sleep better. I popped the pill into my mouth and silently prayed that I could get out of my white-room prison soon and back to the real world, there was work to do. Drowsiness soon tackled me about 10 minutes after I took the pill, thankfully, and in no time, I was sleeping.

* * *

I awoke to that cherry blossom scent that I was so attracted to filling my nose and sending signals of euphoria to my brain, I was going mad.

I rose from my bed into a sitting position and saw her with her back turned to me. She was going through her bag. Which was on the ground. And she was bending over it.

Putting her ass right in my view.

Damn hormones and sexual desires and whatever else took over my body.

I averted my gaze quickly to my hands and coughed to get her attention. She turned around, hair flipping in the most picturesque way. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a green sweatshirt, along with a headband that pulled her hair back and revealed her forehead.

"Hi," she whispered, sending a smile my way that I tried my hardest not to return.

I failed.

She grabbed her bag and walked over to the chair that was next to my bed.

"So the doctor said you'll be released tomorrow, and since its a weekend, you can recover and Ibiki said he wants you in on Monday, otherwise he'll come to your apartment and pummel you." I sighed and looked at her.

"Please protect me," I pleaded, earning a giggle from her.

"Our next case is going to be in Brigham City, so be ready for that," she explained.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home and sleep, you don't need to be here, I'll be fine."

"Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to be here?"

"I mean- um, well…" I trailed off, not knowing how to reply to that. She giggled prettily and got up from her seat.

"I'll go get you something not sweet to eat, don't go anywhere." I watched her leave until she was completely out of my sight. I sighed and sank into my bed, wondering if I would ever get used to having a girl around me that didn't come onto me every time we talked. It was easy to be around her, maybe in a perfect world I could have her, but this wasn't a perfect world, and I was far from the ideal person for her. She doesn't truly know me, and I prefer to keep it that way, because then I might lose her for good.

"Something wrong?" I looked up to see the subject of my thoughts standing there with something wrapped in paper shielded by her hands. I almost lost it, I almost lost that sliver of control that I held onto when I was with her, I almost told her that she drove me insane, but I held onto my sanity and masked myself behind an expressionless face.

"It's nothing, I just want to get out of here," I lied, and surely enough, she saw right through me, like always, and like always, she kept quiet. She handed me the item which turned out to be a sandwich filled with tomatoes. I smirked at her and proceeded to devour the sandwich, ignoring the churning feeling in my stomach. We sat there in silence, staring off into space and at our hands, both not knowing what to say.

"So, how are you?" She asked in a feeble attempt at breaking the silence.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"That's what you're going with?"

"I tried, Sasuke!"

"Hn," I grunted before smirking at her, causing her to blush under my gaze.

"Seeing you like this is actually pretty funny," she remarked, smirking teasingly at me.

"You think me suffering in silence as the hospital's deathly atmosphere slowly sucks the life force out of my very soul is funny?" She looked taken aback at my vivid answer before laughing and shaking her head.

"So dramatic."

"Hn."

"Sasuke!"

"Hn." She growled angrily at me before her face morphed into a devilish smirk. "Sakura?" I asked. She grabbed the remote for the TV and switched channels quickly, the evil smirk still present on her face, scaring the shit out of me.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, you'll see soon enough," she chided in a singsong voice. When she finally stopped switching channels, my eyes widened in horror at the show she landed on. "What's wrong, Sasuke? You seem frightened," she teased in that creepy singsongy voice.

"You…" I trailed off, not able to find the proper words to describe the cruelty she had just exposed me to. It was Dads on Fox, quite possibly one of the worst shows ever made in existence, and that wasn't a joke. "Sakura, please," I pleaded, but she smirked at me victoriously. I scrambled for the remote but she snatched it before I could.

"I'm a little hungry, so I'll go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat, enjoy the show, Sasuke."

"Wait! Sakura!" I yelled after her, but it was too late. She disappeared with the remote stowed away in her bag, meaning I had no way to change the channel. The next half an hour was nothing but pure, unbridled, unadulterated horror. When Sakura walked in, I was curled up on my side, hiding my face under the blankets while covering my ears to keep the shitty jokes away from me. I looked up at her when she walked in to see her erupt in laughter, she literally fell to the ground, clutching her stomach while laughing at my horrified state. I uncovered myself and waited for her to stop laughing, but it was taking really long for her to stop, so I threw a pillow at her. That drew her attention, as well as her ire. She took the pillow and her face exhibited that devious smirk from before, which caused me to shiver in my bed. She raised the pillow over her head while I took cover beneath my blankets to protect myself from her impending assault. She hit me with the pillow a couple of times before deciding that I had suffered through enough between her hitting me and making me watch Dads, the witch.

"Maybe you'll stop saying 'Hn' now," she told me while taking a seat on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," I responded with a smirk on my face.

"True," she agreed with a giggle.

"You must be bored at work without me," I told her.

"Don't get me started, all the papers I've had to fill out and read, I'm so tired from it."

"Yet, you still won't go home."

She looked at me when I said that before asking, "Do you want me to?" I shook my head slightly and matched her smile with my own before grabbing my pillow and slumping onto it. She got up and turned off the lights so that the room was only lit by the moonlight from outside.

"Hey," she whispered, drawing my attention to her illustrious figure. Even though it was fairly dark, I could still see her face. Her glowing eyes lit up her face, which required no makeup to capture me in her spell, in fact, she might look even better without makeup. She reached her hand out and ran her fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp. "Is this ok?" She asked. I nodded my head, not trusting my voice. She began to hum something, some lullaby, I think, because it sounded soft and sweet, luring me into sleep. I closed my eyes, the last image being Sakura, her pink hair tumbling down to her chest while her face was illuminated by the moonlight.


	7. Monster

The weekend flew by quickly and Monday had arrived. I did my daily routine and drove to work with Sakura, it was a normal day, except that we were getting a case today.

I briskly walked into the building and in a minute, Sakura and I were in Ibiki's office, awaiting our boss to get back from the coffee machine so he could give us our deed. Sakura and I anxiously waited for him, and surely enough, the man arrived in 5 minutes.

"Here," he said , tossing Sakura a file. "Brigham City, some guy has been chopping people up, pretty straightforward," Ibiki said. He looked over to me, "You good?" I nodded, and inside, I was more than good.

Brigham City was only 1 hour away from Salt Lake City, which is where Itachi's old friend, Shisui, lived. He had to know where Itachi was, those two were really close, there was no way Itachi didn't tell Shisui where he was going.

"Let's go," I told Sakura before rushing out and almost running to my car.

"Wait up!" She yelled after me, but I wasn't going to sit around, I wanted to know, I needed to know. I sped off as soon as she got into the passenger seat, scaring her in the process. "Sasuke!" She scolded as I sped through the streets.

"Sorry," I muttered. I quickly parked my car and ran up to my apartment, leaving Sakura behind and confused. I grabbed some clothes and toiletries and threw them into a bag before rushing upstairs to Sakura's place and banging on the door repeatedly until she finally came out.

"What the hell?" She asked angrily when she opened the door.

"Sorry," I muttered before taking her hand and running back downstairs to my car.

"You know our flight leaves in 2 hours, right?" She explained. I groaned and uttered a few curses before slumping back into my seat. "So what's over there that you want so badly?"

I turned to her and looked at her for a second before saying, "I just really want to get away from all the paperwork and bombs."

"Bullshit," she uttered sternly. I didn't reply, I only stared out of the window to avoid her eyes, but this wasn't like all the other times, she wasn't letting it go. "Sasuke, like I said in Dallas, I won't force you to tell me anything you don't want to, but don't let whatever you're doing consume you, please," she begged. I turned my head so that I was looking her in the eye.

"How?"

"I don't know what's bothering you, but I know something happened to you, something that made you obsessed with finding killers and turned you into a hardened soldier of the law, at least, that's what you want to think you are. But you really just don't want what happened to you to happen to anyone else." I didn't answer her, I just looked straight ahead before driving off to the airport in silence, letting her know that I wasn't going to talk anymore.

I wanted to tell her, I wanted to so badly, but I couldn't, not because I was afraid of burdening her, but because I was a coward, more than anyone knew. Not even Naruto or Kakashi knew what I had done, what I had tried to do, no one did. Silence filled the car all the way to the airport and to our gate, where we both put on headphones and sat in silence, waiting for our flight to board. I decided to use the time wisely and get something done. I dialed Jugo's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Yeah?"

"Jugo, can you go down to the archives?"

"For?"

"Just do it."

"All right, I'm there."

"Get on a computer and pull up the phone records for people in Salt Lake City."

"Whoa, Sasuke, you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, done."

"Look up the name: Shisui Nakamura."

"Got it."

"And?"

"Number is 801-945-7834."

"Thanks." I hung up the phone and walked back to my seat to see Sakura staring at me suspiciously before turning her attention away. I ignored it and went back to my own phone and created a contact for Shisui so that I could call him when we got to Brigham City. The flight began boarding and Sakura got up and left without waiting for me, which I kind of had coming. I honestly didn't know what to tell her without revealing my past to her, and for some reason, I was beginning to think that maybe I should.

She was different, she was everything I wanted and more, and I refused to let myself have her because of my past, so if I told her could I have her? Maybe I was living in a pipe dream, but why couldn't I? Then again, someone like me has always been regarded as bad news for a girl. Even though the girls from back when I was in school wanted me, their parents always regarded me with distaste. I remember one father saying at on a school trip that I would just use his girl and throw her away when I was done. I wanted to say something, to say he was wrong, but looking back now, was he? I pretty much do that now.

I use people because I'm a failure of a human being. I have killed other murderers and not lost an ounce of sleep, because maybe a part of me enjoys it, maybe I have some bloodlust that's unquenchable. That's why I can't have her, that's why I have to revert to a pipe dream, because that's the only place where I can have happiness, or rather create the illusion of it. I dropped down onto my seat and looked over to Sakura, who was fiddling with her headphones and looking at her hands, like she was nervous.

I tentatively reached my own hand out and put it over hers. She looked up at me and I softened my face as best I could for her. "I'm sorry, Sakura, don't take it personally, no one really knows about what's happened to me," I explained, hoping that she would forgive me and speak to me again. "Sasuke, don't you think that's the problem?" "I've had a therapi-" I began. "Not what I meant. I mean you haven't talked to anyone who's actually cared about you." "I…" I trailed off, stumped by her words. "It doesn't have to be me, Sasuke, but you should tell someone who cares, believe it or not, there are people who care about you, including me." "I know," I whispered softly, letting her lay her head onto my shoulder before putting my head on hers. Whenever I was with her, sleep always came easily, and the nightmares always stopped, like they were acknowledging her as the person who makes me feel alive again. So when I quickly fell asleep to her cherry blossom scent, it didn't surprise me at all.

* * *

Brigham City was honestly one of the most beautiful cities I had ever been to. The towering skyscrapers were outlined by towering mountains behind them. It was like city meet countryside, and it was pretty, like really pretty.

Sakura and I quickly got our rental Ford, sometimes I wondered if they sponsored us, and drove to the police station, where they were already at work trying to find the killer. A short man came to greet us when we walked into the place.

"I'm Lieutenant Pulman, we already have a room set up for you two where you can gather evidence and view what we've collected so far." He led us through the station, which was pretty straightforward, kind of like the ones you see on TV.

Some offices littered the hallways, probably belonging to detectives and higher ranking members of the force, nothing unusual about that. The walls were accented with a beige color and occasionally we passed by some break rooms and desks where cops were working.

"It's nothing special, I hope you don't mind," Pulman said to us as he opened the door to our space. He was right, it was a small room with a clear board for writing and a couple of chairs. There was only one small window and the light wasn't exactly pouring through it, leaving us with a pretty dark and dreary workspace, but we didn't mind.

"It's ok Lieutenant, we'll be fine," Sakura reassured the man. He nodded and left us to our work. I took the file on the table that had been left for us and passed it to Sakura, who read it over carefully and started to write down notes onto the board. I took the opportunity to step out of the room and walk to a confined and quiet place where no one could hear anything I was about to say or do. I whipped out my phone and quickly dialed Shisui's number. Each ring was like a punch to the gut, weakening my resolve further and further, this whole thing was a stupid idea.

Until he picked up.

"Hello?" His voice sounded older than from back then, which made sense, but it still carried that cheerful youthfulness that Shisui always carried with him. He was always happy, and it made the people around him lighten up. "Hello? Who is this?" His voice echoed through the phone and into my ear.

I was frozen, I didn't know what to say other than, "Shisui?"

"Yes, who is this?" I took a deep breath and exhaled, this was going to be a little difficult.

"It's Sasuke Uchiha," I said weakly, hoping that he would believe me. I heard a gasp over the phone followed by a cough.

"Sasuke...how have you been?"

"I-I've been well, you?"

"I've been good," he replied. An awkward silence ensued for a couple of seconds before Shisui spoke up.

"This isn't a social call, is it?"

"No, afraid not." Another few seconds of silence before I broke it. "Can we meet, in person?"

"I live in Salt Lake City, Sasuke, that's far from Jacksonville."

"I know, I'm in Brigham City right now."

"Oh, um, well, then yeah. I'm not in town right now, but come by tomorrow morning and we can talk."

"Ok." I heard a click on the other end and hung up the phone.

That whole conversation was...odd, Shisui must've forgotten about me and what had happened, its been years, after all. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair before walking back to where Sakura was working on the case. I walked in and she looked at me briefly before returning to the board she was writing on.

"This guy is an amatuer, Sasuke, he's killed 2 girls but he's left accidental clues behind both times, one girl had skin under her nails, I'm giving them to forensics and running them." I nodded in response and looked at the board, but my attention was elsewhere, I was thinking about what to ask Shisui tomorrow and if there was even a chance he would tell me where Itachi was.

"How have these cops not found this guy?" Sakura said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"I don't know," I responded. She turned to me and raised an eyebrow, but I didn't think telling her about tomorrow would be such a good idea, she might try to stop me. "It's nothing," I told her before walking out of the room and the station.

I walked through the calm streets of Brigham City, the evening sky presenting me with a beautiful view. I knew there was a case to solve and that it should be my main priority, but Sakura seemed to have it under control, and I had other things to attend to. Still, that didn't stop the feeling of guilt to creep up on me and chastise me for leaving her all alone. I walked quietly, observing the people around me, who seemed happy and at peace with themselves, how I envied them. I saw happy people around me and couldn't help but curse myself for not letting myself be like them. I had tried so hard, but ultimately lost to my own mind.

All of the sudden the feeling of despair took over my body before it turned into rage. I could feel my vision turning red and clouding my mind. I punched a nearby wall, cracking it as well as cutting the skin on my knuckles. My vision returned back to normal and the only red I could see was my blood dripping down from my fingers and onto the concrete sidewalk. A normal person would've questioned what the hell just happened, but I wasn't normal. Sometimes, the suffering overcomes me, it overpowers me, and all I can see is red. However, I hadn't experienced anything like it since one of my last cases with Naruto, before I joined the FBI.

It was when we found a man who had burned 3 little girls and 4 little boys to ashes in a furnace. I remembered finding the ashes and chasing the man down into the forest. I remembered tackling him and beating him viciously. Naruto had tried to stop me, but I had shoved him back, and he had watched in horror as I pummeled the man. I punched him over and over before taking his head and bashing it into the tree multiple times. I remember his blood spilling over my face, making me look like the devil himself. I remembered picking the man up and slamming him to the ground multiple times. I remembered picking him up with one hand and lifting him off of his feet. He struggled for air, clawing at me to free himself, but I didn't let go, not until his body was limp and he was no longer alive. I remembered all too well turning around, my vision bloodred, and looking at Naruto, who was frozen in fear. I remembered the look on his face, the wide eyes, the open mouth, the shuddering breaths. He had later told me that my eyes glowed red in the night, pure red, the color of blood. I had never seen Naruto scared of anything until that night, I had frightened even my best friend, the person who would never leave me was afraid of what I was.

That's when I knew, I wasn't human, I was a monster.


	8. Broken

"What did you do?" Sakura demanded as I woke up on my bed in our motel room. I gave her a confused look before looking at my fist, which was wrapped in bandages.

"Nothing," I replied flatly before getting out of bed and attempting to push past her.

"No, fuck that, you're not just going to walk out like nothing happened," she said sternly.

I glared at her before saying, "I fell." She laughed humorlessly at that.

"Really?"

"Move."

"No."

"What the fuck is your problem?"

"My problem? My problem is that I walked into my motel room to see my partner's hand bleeding and bottles of alcohol scattered around his unconscious body. Then, he wakes up and lies to me about it because he doesn't want to tell me or anyone anything, that's my fucking problem."

I pushed past her and silently walked to the door with the car keys in my hands. "Ok, Sasuke, just run away from it, that always makes things better."

"I'm not running," I replied while putting a shirt on and popping some painkillers to relieve my headache.

"Sure, Sasuke, you're not running from anything," she taunted. I made sure to slam the door just because and quickly jumped into the car before she could say anything else.

I sped off and realized that I didn't know where the hell Shisui even lived, so I texted him quickly and put his address onto my phone's GPS. I drove off, ignoring the calls Sakura sent my way, even if it made me feel even worse. Eventually, in about an hour, I had entered Salt Lake City, which made Brigham City seem normal.

It had the same skyscrapers complete with a backdrop of mountains, but it also had areas that reminded me of small towns, it was like a city and village meshed together, and it was pretty, but I didn't have time to explore, I had a goal. I sped through the city and eventually made it to the address Shisui had sent me.

It was a house, big enough for a family to live in. It was painted beige and had 4 steps leading up to the front door. I spotted a minivan and a BMW M4 Coupe parked in the driveway, Shisui had a good job, a family, he had moved on, and yet, here I was, still clinging to those events.

I knocked three times on the front door and a man who looked to be in his early 30s came to greet me. He had curly black hair and was about 2 inches shorter than me with a thin build. His face was bright and cheerful, like always, a contrast to my own face.

"Sasuke…" he said before laughing and hugging me like we were old friends. "It's been too long!" He exclaimed while leading me through his house. The insides were painted light blue and the house seemed relatively normal, it had 3 beds and 3 baths, completely normal, Shisui really was living the American Dream.

"Where's your family?" I asked. His expression turned from happy to serious in an instant.

"I sent them out, I wanted you to meet them, but I didn't want them to hear what we would be discussing."

"So you know why I'm here," I said. He nodded and motioned me to sit down on a sofa in the living room. I sat down and he sat across from me with his hands clasped together. The next minute went by quietly, both of us staying quiet and silently waiting for the other to bring up the dreaded topic.

"Sasuke, I can tell you everything I know, but I don't think you'll find the answers you're looking for," he explained. That statement shocked me slightly, rather, a good amount.

"You don't know where he is?"

"No, no one does, your brother will only be found if he wants to be."

"But, he had to tell you something!"

"He did, the night your parents were killed, he came to me."

"What did he say?!"

"He told me that he was going to disappear until he could find the real killer, he told me that no matter what he wouldn't come back until he was ready."

I took in the information he was telling me in droves, this proves Itachi was innocent, but why was he hiding from me? Wouldn't it be easier to work together on this?

"There's something else too," Shisui said, his voice quiet and his gaze set on the ground. "Itachi asked me to protect you, to keep you safe and sane, but...I couldn't. After he ran away, I fell into my own depression, I couldn't stand being in that place, it was like a mausoleum, it was torturing me." Now that was something I didn't know, but it would be foolish of me to be mad at Shisui for something that happened so long ago, or maybe I just didn't want to be mad at him.

"It's fine, Shis-"

"No, it's not." He paused for a second before looking me in the eyes, the irises filled with regret and sorrow. "I couldn't stand that place, but most of all, I couldn't stand being around you."

I froze.

What the hell was I supposed to say to that?

"Every time I looked at you, I thought of Itachi, and it drove me insane, I thought I was going to lose it, so I left." I stood up and walked over to him. I looked at him before tentatively laying my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe him.

"It's ok, Shisui, I don't hold any hostility towards you," I told him truthfully. He nodded and cleared his throat before smiling up at me.

"Thank you," he said. I nodded and backed up, letting him stand in front of me. "Sasuke, you should forget about all of this, forget about finding Itachi, because in time, he'll find you, believe me, you will see your older brother again, he'll be an innocent man, and you can live a normal life, all you have to do is wait."

I thought over his words carefully, will I really see him again and be able to actually enjoy my time with him, like I did back when we were young? I wanted to believe it so badly, I wanted to trust Shisui, but some part of me was impatient, some part of me didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Yeah, ok, thanks Shisui." I shook his hand and walked to the front door, giving him one more reassuring glance before stepping out and into my car. I sat down in the driver's seat and let out a long sigh, breathing out all of my frustrations in the process.

I could've gone back to help Sakura with the case, but I wasn't sure if we would be on the same page after the morning. I remembered arguing with her, but I still didn't want to leave her all alone.

So I drove through Salt Lake City, drove and drove, occasionally getting out to use the bathroom, but otherwise, I just drove around listening to music, trying to get all of the thoughts I had out of my head. I absorbed the views of the city, driving along the rural areas as well as the city, the place was just beautiful, I didn't really want to leave. As I drove, the sun set and the moon came out, night was in full effect when I stopped at a liquor store to pick up Jack Daniel's, after today, there was no way I wasn't going to drink.

I stepped into the run-down liquor store, which was empty except for the cashier, an old man in his 60s. I grabbed a bottle and quickly paid the man my due before walking out and into the car. I opened the door and put the bottle in the passenger seat.

I was about to take my seat when I heard a yell that sounded like it came from nearby. I quickly locked the car and briskly walked to the area where I heard the yell come from, an alleyway behind the liquor store.

I saw 8 men, all fairly well built and around my height, cornering a young boy, who was clutching a bag of money in his hands.

Not the smartest idea.

"Please, I need it!" He yelled as they cornered him quickly.

"So do we," one of the men said. I clenched my fists as the man laughed when the boy cried out.

He was young, no more than 9, why was a young kid like that out here in the dark all alone? I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw one of the men raise his hand, ready to strike the boy and take the money from him.

"Hey," I called out, like a cliche action movie star, "Does it really take 8 of you to deal with him?" The men sneered at the sight of me, turning their attention away from the boy.

"No, I guess you're right," one of the men said, "I'll take care of the boy, you guys, go get him." At that, they converged on me, 7 men, ready to beat me, but I was ready.

I ducked under Thing 1's punch and jabbed the second in the stomach. When he doubled over, I kneed him in the face and dodged a kick sent by Thing 3. I stepped back and elbowed Thing 1 in the face before ducking and avoiding Thing 3's punch. He ended up hitting Thing 1, which worked out for me. I avoided more strikes and dropped Thing 1 onto his head, incapacitating him. Thing 3 hit me in the stomach, fueling my ire even further . I avoided Thing 4 and 5 and tripped 3. I grabbed Thing 6 and threw him onto 3 before jumping up and slamming my heels onto the back of 6. He gasped for air and I slammed his head onto the concrete with the heel of my boot. I ducked and avoided a punch sent by Thing 7 before kicking him in the ribs, momentarily capacitating him. I was about to finish him when 3 grabbed my ankle and dragged me to the ground. My head hit the concrete, hard, and it wasn't long until blood began to drip from the wound. 7 kicked me in the stomach, making me gasp for air before 3 punched me in the face. I raised my arms and protected my face from the assault of the four remaining men who began to kick me while I was on the ground. I exploded onto my feet, knocking the four of them back. I grabbed 3 by the collar and threw him into the wall before punching him across the face twice and headbutting him, finishing him off.

I was feeling it, that feeling from back then, it was coming back, I was fucking pissed.

I took 4 and uppercutted him before grabbing him by the shirt and throwing him into the dumpster. I smashed the lid onto his fingers, probably breaking them from the cry he let out, before turning my attention back to the other two. 7 punched me across the face, sending me spiraling into my rage even more.

I was afraid of this happening, every time I got into a fight I was afraid of this happening, I was afraid of losing control.

Yet, here I was, seeing only red, blood red.

The other men must've noticed, because they backed away, faces covered with pure fear.

I growled animalistically and charged, grabbing 5 and throwing him onto 7. They landed on the ground next to each other and scrambled to their feet, only for me to kick one of them back to the ground and slam the other right back with them. I unleashed a flurry of punches on 7, knocking him into oblivion. 5 tried to get up and run away, but I caught him by the neck and slammed him into the wall before roundhouse kicking him the head, knocking him out cold. 7 unconscious men surrounded me while the boy had already run away. The last man, who seemed to be the ringleader, was frozen in fear.

"Y-y-you're the devil," he whispered in fear, clutching the cross around his neck and praying. My eyes were still red as I advanced towards him. He stepped back with every step I took until his back met the wall and he had nowhere to go. "Please, no…" He pleaded, his voice cracking with pure fear at the monster before him. I grabbed him by the back of the head and bashed his head into the wall.

Once.

Twice.

Three times before I let go, his blood covering my hand. His eyes rolled back as he fell unconscious with the rest of his boys.

I looked at the scene of destruction I had caused, examining the place before searching for a camera, which thankfully, wasn't there. I ran back to my car to make sure no one else could see me and my eyes and slammed the door shut. I laid my forehead onto the steering wheel and took deep and calming breaths, but my eyes still glowed red from what I had just witnessed, what I had just done.

It was like everything bad that had happened in my life came rushing back in that moment, and I just...broke.

That's exactly what happened, I broke and went berserk, just like a rabid animal.

I revved the engine of my car and sped off at unlawful speeds back to Brigham City. I reached there in 45 minutes, but my eyes still looked like pits of blood, I refused to let Sakura see me like this.

Sakura.

Just the thought of her calmed me, the dark thoughts that plagued my mind dissipating at the thought of her bright smile, of the warmth it provided me with.

My eyes went back to their regular color, onyx, and I got out of the car and walked into our room.

"Sasuke?" She called from her bed as she turned to face me. Her eyes widened at the sight of my bloodstained figure before she got up and rushed to me with a first aid kit. I stayed silent as she sat me down and applied medicine and bandages to my wounds, glad that she was here with me.

"Sasuke, what the hell happened to you?"

"Got into a fight with 8 guys."

"That's not what I meant," she whispered softly.

"What?"

"You disappear for the day to who knows where, you ignore all my calls and texts, ever since we were given this case you've been cold and distant. What happened to my partner?" Her voice slightly cracked with the last word, sending waves of guilt through me.

I didn't know what to say to her because she was right, I had become my old self, the person I was before I met her because of this whole ordeal with Shisui and Itachi.

"Sasuke, please, answer me," she pleaded, holding onto my arm. I thought about what I should say to her to get her forgiveness, but then it occurred to me, maybe she should just let go of me. If I don't ask for her forgiveness, I won't have to keep hurting her and make her worry.

"Sakura, you should leave," I said flatly, hiding the shakiness in my voice. She looked at me in shock before opening her mouth to say something, but her words died in her throat.

"I'm not a good person, Sakura, all I'll do is cause you pain, that's all I do to everyone around me. I'm a killer," I paused and drew a shaky breath, "I'm a monster."

She stared at me in shock while I avoided her gaze. I thought back to what I had done in the forest that day with the man who burned those kids. I could never forget the look of fear on Naruto's face, no matter how hard I tried. Tonight, a man thought I was the devil himself, how much lower could I go?

"So you're a monster now?" She questioned angrily. I looked up and was surprised to see her emerald eyes glowing with anger.

"That's exactly what I am," I replied stoically.

"No, that's what you think, that's what you want to believe you are, you stupid asshole." I narrowed my eyes at her and ripped my arm away.

"You don't know anything about me," I said angrily.

"I do, frankly, it seems like I know you a lot better than you think. You give off this image that you're this dark, cold-hearted killer because that's what you want people to think, but in reality, you're just scared that one day you might feel happy again, that's why you're pushing me away, am I right?"

"Shut up," I growled at her.

"What's wrong? Did I say something right?" She retorted.

"Shut the fuck up," I hissed through gritted teeth.

"Or what, Sasuke? You'll murder me? Stop being so damn hard on yourself all the time, whatever happened to you is done, it wasn't your fault, so stop shouldering all the blame and responsibility!"

"HOW!" I yelled, silencing her. "How the hell do I stop blaming myself! I'm the only one left to blame!"

"No, you're not, stop lying to yourself-"

"You wanna know why I'm so fucked up in the head?" I growled, feeling my eyes bleed red again. I got up and cornered her by the wall.

She seemed frozen by my eyes, but I didn't really care at this point. "My parents were killed when I was 7, and the police suspect my brother, still do. I thought it was him too, but then I realized it wasn't, because he wouldn't do something like that. Too late, though, he's gone now, no one, not even his best friend, who I visited today, knows where the hell he is. So tell me, what the hell do I do, I've got nothing. Nothing."

I choked out the last word. She stared up at my red eyes with an expression I had never seen before, which confused me.

"Your eyes…" she whispered. I backed away from her and looked away.

"You're scared, aren't you?"

"No, you think that little of me?" I whipped my head back to face her. She reached out her hand and touched my cheek, filling me with warmth and comfort. I felt my eyes turn back to their regular color.

Despite everything, she was still my cure.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, Sasuke."

"Stop," I croaked out.

"But you're not a monster, despite what anyone tells you, you're the farthest thing from a monster."

"Sakura-"

"You care too much, that's your issue, that's why you try to be so distant, you're afraid of losing people. You act like you're a stoic person because you're afraid of losing anyone else, right? But you've really got a heart of gold with a black mask on it."

I lost it.

"Shut up," I growled, returning to my feral state, "why the hell do you keep talking?"

"Because I care." I couldn't stand it anymore, I couldn't stand hearing what she was telling me, this partner that I didn't want in the beginning, I didn't want to hear her telling me the truth.

So I made sure my next sentence reeked of finality.

"Well, don't, I don't care about you, you're nothing but a burden to me," I stated coldly, determined to keep her away from me. But her reaction was so different then what I had expected. She gave me a sad smile, like she was remembering something. "You're right, Sasuke, I'm a burden, to everyone around me, just like my parents said, but I still care about you, and I know you're a good person, even if you try and deny it."

I froze and stared at her in shock.

I was definitely not expecting that.

I didn't have a response, so I just walked out of the room and shut the door before collapsing against the door. I put my head in my hands and pretended not to hear the sobs and cries coming from behind the door.


	9. Regret

"Monster."

I saw Naruto's face, staring up at me.

"Devil."

I saw the 8 men I had beaten half to hell yesterday, eyes depicting only the purest fear as they stared into my burning, scarlet eyes.

"You're not a monster."

Sakura's voice rang through my head and I woke up with a start.

I was in the backseat of the Ford, where I had fallen asleep after what had happened yesterday. Guilt ran over me as I remembered exactly what I had said to her. I called her a burden, and she told me I sounded just like her parents. I shook my head, clearing the thoughts from my head. I checked the time on my phone. 2:34 PM.

Damn, I slept a lot.

I saw the bottle of Jack from yesterday in the passenger seat and grabbed it, downing half the bottle in one breath, not the healthiest thing to do. My throat burned with the alcohol, but I wasn't satisfied. It only took 3 more breaths for me to finish off the bottle. I felt groggy within minutes, drinking the whole bottle would probably mess with my head unless I slept it off, so I did exactly that, sleeping even more than I already had.

* * *

The next time I woke up, it was 8:13, and my head was killing me. I made sure Sakura wasn't in the room before sneaking in and popping some painkillers before running back to the car. I sat there for a couple of minutes, thinking about nothing, just staring up at the plain sky, not a cloud in sight.

"Sasuke…" I heard her voice call out to me. I looked around for the source, but she was nowhere in sight. I was going insane, I was hearing her voice, and she wasn't even here. I closed my eyes, but all I saw was her, she was in control of my senses, she had taken control from me. My phone rang, snapping me out of my stupor. I saw the police department's number flash onto the screen and I answered.

"Uchiha."

"Hey, so I know you and your partner want to get Marlon alone, but if you need backup, just ask and we'll be there." I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Marlon? Who the fuck is Marlon?"

"Um, the big dude, the killer?" I froze in my seat, horrified at what he had just told me.

"Where is he?"

"400 Chesterfield Avenue, you sick or something?" I hung up the phone and turned on the siren to the car after punching the address into my phone's GPS.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered continuously while driving at top speed to the location. I wanted to call her, but it might alert Marlon to her presence if I did, so I settled on driving to the car's maximum capacity to Marlon's place. She had found the killer, and she didn't even-, "Oh fuck no."

I had one missed call.

From Sakura Haruno.

"FUCK!" I yelled as I neared the destination. I quickly pulled up, driving over the curb in the process. I grabbed my guns and ran to the door, shoving it open and finding nothing. I searched the living room and kitchen, but there was no sign of anyone. I ran up the stairs and burst through the door to the bedroom, where I saw a huge man, at least 330 pounds and 6'7, slumped over, face all bruised from punches and kicks, and two bullet holes in his stomach.

He was dead, and it was definitely Marlon, whose last name I didn't even know. I searched the room until my eyes landed on something pink.

She was lying on the ground, facing towards the ceiling, unconscious.

"No, no, no," I whispered in horror.

Blood was pooling around her from a stab wound in her stomach. My eyes widened in horror, and I felt a foreign feeling wash over me.

It was fear.

I carefully removed the knife and my shirt, wrapping it around the wound to stop the bleeding before carrying her bridal style to my car. I laid her down in the backseat and sped away towards the hospital, sirens blaring.

I was cursing myself silently, how could I let this happen?

"Please don't die, please," I pleaded, but she was unconscious, she couldn't hear what I was saying. I pulled into the hospital and parked as close as possible to the entrance. I carried Sakura inside and ran to the front desk frantically.

"Help me!" I yelled, and within seconds, two nurses came with a stretcher, relieving me of Sakura. I tried following them inside, but the doctor stopped me.

"We need to operate under normal conditions, I'll let you know if anything happens," he told me. I peered over his head to see them already at work on the stab wound, which made me feel a little better. I stayed there until the doctor motioned me to the waiting room. I reluctantly sat down in a chair and put my head in my hands.

A single tear escaped my eye, that was the first tear I had let slip in many years, and it was because of her.

She tried to call me, tell me where she was going, we could've prevented this, but I was passed out from drinking, I'm such an idiot, sometimes, all of the time. I cursed myself for allowing this to happen, how could I be so careless.

Another tear escaped from my eyes.

I took a shaky breath and got up to use the bathroom, which was empty, thankfully. I went to the sink and took more shaky breaths in attempt to calm myself, but it didn't work.

Tears kept falling from my face, one by one, they wouldn't stop.

I grabbed my head and clutched it tightly before releasing a muffled yell of sorts. The tears kept falling, my breath stayed shaky, my body ached, most of all, my heart hurt, the heart she said was made of gold, that very heart.

After years, it hurt again, I had kept it in check for so long, but tonight, in the bathroom of a hospital where my bloodied partner lay, where she might die, my heart hurt so much. I sank to the ground and laid with my back to the wall with my hands still on my head, hoping that if I squeezed hard enough, I could put myself out of my misery like I had tried to do so long ago.

* * *

"Sasuke, help me," She called to me, but I stood there, frozen as she was beaten to death, her last word being my name.

"Mr. Uchiha." I woke with a start at the sound of my surname. I looked up to see what looked to be the doctor who was in charge of Sakura.

"Yes," I answered with a raspy voice.

"She'll make it, you can see her now if you'd like, but she'll be unconscious." I let out a sigh of relief and leaned my head back against the chair before nodding and following the doctor to her room. He let me in and shut the door behind me, leaving me alone with her.

I pulled up a chair next to her bed and took a seat.

She was wearing an oxygen mask and was hooked up to an IV, but she was alive.

I made a mental note to thank the doctor later. Her steady breathing was better than any music to my ears, soothing me. How could one woman have such an effect on me? I remember thinking that I loved her, but then I thought how I was being foolish, but now? Well, how much clearer could it be? I took her hand in mine, knowing she was unconscious, and kissed it before putting it to my forehead.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered over and over so many times that I lost count.

But no matter how many times I said it, the ache in my heart refused to go away, it kept torturing me until I took her hand in both of mine.

Like before, like every time, she was my cure, always healing me, always taking my pain from me.

I sat there, whispering about how sorry I was.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise, I'll never leave again," I told her. I meant it too, after this, there was no way in hell I would leave her, though I had to admit, she took down a man who was almost 3 times her weight, that's really impressive. "How the hell did you do it," I chuckled, thinking of how she managed to get the guy. She must've used her speed to her advantage, but he got a stab in and went for the kill, that's when she shot him.

It's amazing that she took him down, especially in such a closed environment, but then again, she's always defying my expectations. I gazed upon her silent form, even though her skin was pale from the blood loss, she still looked so unbelievably gorgeous that it honestly baffled me as to how a person could look like that after losing so much blood.

"I'm gonna pray to every god right now that you can't hear me, Sakura, because saying this is gonna be hard even when you're unconscious."

I took a deep breath, then another, and another, before grasping her hand firmly with my own and gazing down on her with determination that I had never summoned before.

"You drive me crazy, ever since, I met you, and you were made my partner, you've driven me crazy from the start. You changed me in ways I never thought possible, you're the first person to make me feel...happy, again, and I don't know how to thank you for that. You're smart, you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, you're strong, I mean, you took down a guy that was like 3 times your size. How you did that, I'll never know. You're perfect. You're everything that I want, that's why I kept trying to push you away, and that's why you're here, because of me. I'm so sorry for doing this to you, I hope you can forgive me one day, Sakura."

I took a long pause and gripped her hand a little tighter.

"I...I...I-" I stopped my sentence in its tracks, forbidding it from finishing. I stood up with her hand still in mine. "You deserve better than that, you deserve to be told when you're conscious, and that's exactly what I'll do," I told her confidently.

I was done being a coward to her, if I was going to tell her how I felt, I'm making sure she's completely conscious when I do, she deserves that. So I leaned over and kissed her forehead, and almost immediately, I saw her mouth curve upwards into a small smile that I couldn't help but smile back at, maybe this whole thing will work out. So with a small smile on my face, I walked out of her room to grab something to eat while she slept.


	10. Birthday

I awoke the next day to something poking my cheek. I swatted it away and murmured something before attempting to fall back asleep, but the thing poking my cheek kept going, rousing me from my slumber.

"What the-" I cut myself off when I saw the thing poking me was Sakura's finger.

"Oh shit." I raised my head from her bed and saw her trying to suppress laughter, which, of course, she failed at. I sat back and crossed my arms, letting an amused smirk crawl onto my face at her laughter. We looked at each other for a bit, and I found myself smiling at her, something that was becoming a habit to me.

She returned my smile with her own, but then I realized the situation and place we were in and how it was my fault. My smile faltered and I looked to the ground, ready to beg for her forgiveness.

"Sakura I-"

"Don't you dare," she interrupted, "don't you dare, Sasuke Uchiha."

"But-"

"No."

"Sakura-"

"No."

"Damn it-"

"No."

"Will you just listen?" She stayed quiet after that, but I could tell she already knew what I was going to say.

"I'm sorry," I whispered softly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied.

"How can you say that? If I was with you, you wouldn't be in this mess!"

"When I joined the FBI, I knew the risks, they prepared you for single combat because sometimes, you would have to be solo, so I was just doing my job, Sasuke."

"I was passed out drunk, Sakura, that's why I wasn't there," I told her. I expected that to at least get her a little upset, but all she did was smile at me and put her hand over mine.

"You've lived such a hard life, Sasuke, I can't blame you for giving into your demons sometimes because the pain is unbearable, I get that, so I don't hold it against you. I must've brought up some bad memories that night."

I was speechless, how do I respond to someone so understanding?

"Sakura..." I trailed off before clearing my throat, "About that night, you said something about your parents," I said.

"Yeah, they didn't want me to join the FBI, they wanted me to take over my dad's law firm."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I never wanted it, most of my life my main goal was to join the FBI, and when I told my parents, they insulted and yelled at me."

We stayed silent for a second before she laughed humorlessly.

"I guess I really am a burden."

My arms went around her before I could even register my body was moving. I wrapped my arms around her carefully, making sure I didn't squeeze too hard and hurt her. Her arms went around me almost as quickly as mine went around her.

"If you really were a burden, then you wouldn't have killed a murderer that was like three times your fucking size, you annoying idiot," I told her. She giggled into my chest, spreading a warm feeling across my body that calmed my nerves.

"I'm still sorry, Sakura."

"I forgive you." She buried her face onto my chest and I buried my own face into her sweet-smelling hair. "Can you stay, Sasuke?"

I pulled back and smiled at her before nodding at her request. It's not like I wanted to leave, anyway. I held her for a minute, savoring everything, from her scent to her steady breathing, I took it all in, letting it flood my systems. She was like my drug, I couldn't get enough of her, I was addicted. Of course, our peace couldn't last forever, and this time, it was my phone that broke it. I checked to see it was Naruto and went to sit back in my chair, only to be yanked back by Sakura.

"You're not going anywhere," she purred. Thankfully, her head was against my chest, so she couldn't see the blush that covered my cheeks.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke! We finally got something!"

"What're you talking about?"

"The theater bombing, we got footage of some blonde guy with a ponytail leaving the theater from the back entrance and driving away about 15 minutes before the explosion happened!"

"Can you use facial recognition to ID him?"

"No, we didn't get a glimpse of his face, but at least we have something to work with."

"Ok, keep checking it out and let me know if anything comes up."

"Yeah."

I hung up and rewrapped my arms around the girl with me because, to be honest, I didn't want to think about anything else.

"What was that about?"

"It was Naruto, they found some footage of a guy leaving the movie theater 15 minutes before the explosion went off, it could be the guy." She nodded and went back to resting her head against my chest. We both sat there for minutes, silently and unmoving, until I heard her silent breaths become rhythmic and her eyes had closed. I laid her down on her bed and pulled her blanket over her before pulling up my chair and sitting back in it. I used my phone for the next couple of hours, watching shows and texting Naruto before falling asleep myself in the same position as yesterday, with my head and arms on the edge of her bed.

…

Sakura was released from the hospital 3 days later, and we were on the first flight back to Jacksonville, ready to take our day off. The past week had been taxing, emotionally and physically, so I was ready to get back to my apartment and watch Netflix all day, because that was sort of my stress reliever.

We touched down in Jacksonville on March 27th, and when I realized that, I remembered that Sakura's birthday was tomorrow. I had to think of something to get her, quickly. Once we reached the apartment building, I unpacked quickly, not bothering to fold my clothes, instead, just throwing them onto my bed. I rushed out and drove my Camaro to the nearest mall, which seemed like the best place to get her something. I could get her clothes, but I feel like that would be too insignificant.

She was into TV and movies, but what gift would satisfy that? I looked around the mall, looking to see if there was anything that caught my eye, and thankfully, there was.

I walked into a jewelry store and saw a beautiful necklace with a gold and pink pattern encasing it. The charm was a picture of a tree which I couldn't identify, but I could just tell her it was a Sakura tree. I'm pretty sure this was the gift I wanted to get her, the only thing left was to pray that the price wasn't too outrageous.

"$400," the lady said. I silently grumbled to myself about how expensive women's jewelry was and how it was so overpriced before taking out my credit card and letting the woman swipe it. I walked out of the store satisfied and $400 poorer.

I should've just stolen the damn thing.

"Fucking expensive jewelry," I mumbled to myself like a crazy person before getting into my Camaro and driving home with her gift. I walked up to my apartment, and was horrified at the sight at my door. Sakura was standing there, waiting for me, unaware of the bag I was holding. I hid the bag behind and me and walked to the door, looking as innocent as I possibly could.

"Sasuke! I-." She saw the bag I was holding behind me.

Fuck.

From the wide grin that spread across her face, I knew I had been caught, but there was no way I was letting her see what I had gotten for her until tomorrow.

"Let me see!"

"Nope." I used one hand to fend off her advances and the other to quickly unlock my apartment door.

"Sasuke!"

"Nope." I opened the door, but she snuck in after me. I ran into my bedroom and locked the door with her outside. She banged on the door for a little bit before stopping in defeat. I smirked and quickly put the necklace in one of my drawers under my boxers before stepping out. She didn't hear me come out, and I found her looking at a picture of me and my family from back then.

It was from when we went to California for vacation, I had been 6 at the time. I walked up to her and she noticed my presence, silently putting the picture down and looking at me.

"I'm sorry, I just saw it and-" She began, but I cut her off.

"That's a good picture, isn't it?" She stopped talking and gave me a small smile before nodding.

"You're ok with me looking at it?"

"I remember someone telling me that I should be more open, so this is me, being...open." She nodded at my response before looking into my eyes for a second.

I poked her forehead and muttered, "you're still annoying though." She glared at me and lightly shoved my shoulder.

"Oh, um, by the way, I made some new friends in the time I've been here, and we're having a little party tomorrow, if you want to come, then, I guess you can."

"You guess?"

"You know what I mean," she said with a faint blush.

"Sounds like you don't want me there, Sakura, I'm hurt." I put my hand over my heart and feigned pain just to mess with her.

"Oh my god, you asshole, can you come?" I smirked victoriously and nodded slyly, watching her face go from faint blush to full blush.

"You suck," she muttered before walking out, sticking her tongue out at me before shutting the door. I decided to ask Naruto if he wanted to come, after all, he and Sakura could become friends, they're both happy people. I dialed his number quickly and put the phone on speaker while laying on my couch.

"Yo."

"Hey, I got a friend who's having a birthday party tomorrow, wanna come?" I asked.

"You know, Sakura?" He inquired, a little surprised.

"Haruno?"

"Yeah."

"She's my partner."

"Oh."

"How do you know her?"

"Well I...may have tried to ask her out...twice."

Silence.

"Oh my god."

"What?"

"She rejected you. Twice."

"Hey asshole, she just said she wanted to stay friends!"

"You got rejected twice," I teased, trying really hard to stifle the laughter that was threatening to explode from me. A few chuckles made it through the phone to Naruto, and I'm pretty sure it made him even more mad.

"FUCK YOU!" He yelled, followed by another slew of curses. After he was done cursing me and I was done chuckling, we continued our conversation like normal.

"I'm at my parent's place tomorrow, can you pick me up?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, then we're all set!"

"Hey, Naruto?"

"What?"

"You got rejected twice," I said before hanging up before he could verbally assault me again. To be honest, hearing that Sakura had rejected Naruto twice was kind of surprising. He was social, much more than me, and wasn't the ugliest person in the world. Still, I guess every girl has her preferences. I turned on the TV and put on some new show called "Ozark", that Netflix just released and watched a couple of episodes before falling asleep on the couch.

* * *

I woke up the next day to the sound of my phone going off. I checked and saw that it was Kakashi calling, so I answered.

"Yeah?"

"You hear about Dunkirk?" He questioned.

"The new Christopher Nolan movie? What about it? Is it good?"

"Apparently its amazing, wanna go see it tomorrow after work? I can bring Naruto with me." The mere mention of his name brought back memories of our conversation yesterday, I had to tell Kakashi about.

"Yeah, that's fine. Speaking about Naruto, you wanna know something?"

"What?"

"He got rejected by a girl, twice."

"Oh wow, is she hot?"

"Um, I don't know how to answer that."

"What's her name?"

"Sakura Haruno."

"Pink hair?"

"That's the one."

"She's in high demand, Sasuke."

"Really?"

"Have you seen her? She's literally beautiful."

"Literally, huh?"

"Literally."

"You got a crush or something?"

"We talked a little in a bar nearby because she recognized my name. We were talking for 5 minutes and like 4 guys tried to hit on her, seeing her reject them was actually hilarious." I smirked to myself, she was still single.

"I'm actually going to her birthday party, wanna come?"

"I'm already going."

"Really?"

"I'm her partner."

"Oh. Oh, now that makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Nothing, kid, you'll find out soon enough."

"Ok, I'll see you there, I guess."

"Yeah, see you." He was about to hang up before I remembered something important I had to ask him.

"Wait! What're you wearing?"

There was a long pause before he finally answered me.

"Sasuke? Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You never care about what you wear."

"Oh, um..." I thanked everyone in the world that Kakashi couldn't see the blush I had on my face, but he must've noticed something from the way he snickered. I hung up the phone and decided that I would just wear a black buttoned shirt and some dress pants, that seemed like it would work. I put my phone down and went to get ready. I walked out later with only boxers on because I didn't feel like putting on clothes then changing into my fancy clothes, that would be annoying. I sat there in my boxers watching and finishing Ozark, which passed enough hours so that I could get ready.

I slipped on my dress pants and zipped them up before throwing on my shirt. I finished buttoning my shirt and walked out of my apartment with my keys and Sakura's gift. I hopped into my Camaro and sped to Minato and Kushina's house, reaching there in 10 minutes. I walked up the steps and knocked on the door a couple of times before Kushina answered.

"Sasuke!" She greeted cheerfully. I nodded in greeting before walking in and sitting on the couch, waiting for Naruto. As I sat there, my mind drifted to Sakura, who seemed to always be on my mind. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but I was a coward, afraid of rejection.

"Someone has a girl on his mind," Minato's voice sounded. I looked up to see him smiling at me before he took a seat next to me.

"You like a girl, don't you? I can see it in your eyes." I sighed and nodded, accepting the fact that I had been found out.

"Is it really that easy to tell?"

"No, but I've seen that look on other boys before, never on you, I have to say I didn't know if I ever would."

"Well, here it is," I murmured. He glanced at me before leaning back in his seat.

"I could give you a really long speech about how I met Kushina and how you shouldn't be afraid of rejection, but I don't feel like boring you. Instead, I'll just say this, you like her, go for her, otherwise, someone's going to get to her before you, and you'll have to live with the fact that you had a chance but you were too scared to take it."

He patted my shoulder before getting up and leaving me to my thoughts briefly until Naruto came into the living room. He was actually wearing a white shirt and black pants, normal clothes, for once.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed before running to my car. I sat in the driver's seat, and before I could say anything, Naruto blasted the radio to keep me quiet. I smirked at him and drove off, knowing exactly why he wanted to keep me quiet. We reached our building a short time after and I parked in my usual spot before grabbing Sakura's gift. Naruto ran up to the elevator and mashed the button multiple times until it finally came.

"Calm down," I told him, "third time's a charm."

He turned beet red at that and started to yell at me. "Fucking prick, asshole, dick! I hate you so much!" I smirked at all of his insults and stayed quiet.

"What'd you get her?" He asked.

"Necklace, you?"

"Perfume." I nodded and waited for the elevator reached the fourth floor, the damn thing was taking forever.

"This is why I walk," I complained as the elevator finally reached our destination. Naruto and I walked out and to Sakura's door. Naruto pounded on the door and I smacked him in the head for it. He shoved me back and I put him in a headlock, starting yet another fight with him. Unfortunately, that's right when the door opened, revealing the one blonde I wasn't to ecstatic to see.

"Sasuke!" Ino Yamanaka exclaimed in excitement, and I could already feel my brain cells begin to deteriorate and wither away.

"Hi," I muttered before turning to Naruto, who was chuckling under his breath. I glared at him before stepping inside the apartment, which was covered with streamers and a Happy Birthday banner. I ignored the dreamy stares Ino was giving me and walked up to Kakashi, who was happily sipping on something while talking to a girl that I recognized. She had short dark brown hair, and looked to be about Kakashi's age.

"Sasuke! This is Rin!" He told me as I reached him. I remembered her from somewhere, but I couldn't remember where.

"You're the man from the coffee shop!" She exclaimed.

That's where.

"It's nice to see you again," I answered courteously.

"You two know each other?" Kakashi inquired, confused at our sudden recognition of each other.

"Only before our first date," Rin answered for the both of us.

"Date, huh?" I questioned Kakashi, who seemed to be embarrassed enough to run away for more juice or whatever he was drinking. Rin laughed and waved to me before following after him. I turned to see Naruto staring at something, hard, like really hard. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he didn't answer, he just pointed ahead. I followed his gaze and found exactly what he was staring at.

Sakura wore a strapless pink dress that highlighted her assets to perfection and stretched across her slender body all the way to her knees, revealing her creamy skin that I had always found alluring. I couldn't help but stare, I was a guy after all, and that right there was the most attractive woman ever, so I stared.

Shoot me.

"God damn," I heard someone say behind me, snapping me out of my trance. I turned to see Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji, all staring at the same thing Naruto and I were.

I realized that the 5 of us staring at one girl would probably look weird, no, it would definitely look weird, so I snapped my fingers in front of each of them to break their intense concentration.

"What's up, Sasuke?" They all asked in unison, still in their daze, which almost made me laugh. Naruto came up to us and threw his arms around Neji and Kiba's shoulders while sporting a shit-eating grin.

"Well boys, we all have a crush, how will we ever solve this predicament?"

"Shut up, Uzumaki, go get a girlfriend," Neji spat back.

"Why is being around you always so tiring?" Shikamaru complained, the man was notorious for being lazy, but he was one of the smartest men I knew.

"Hey, Naruto, how bout we fight for it?" Kiba suggested, matching Naruto's grin with his own, those two were scarily similar to each other in terms of behavior.

"I'll kill you, Inuzuka!" Naruto yelled.

"Not if I kill you first!" Kiba challenged. Neji and Shikamaru had enough, and they showed it by throwing Naruto's arms off of their shoulders, dumping him in the process. He jumped to his feet and glared at them in response. I was about to insult him when I felt a hand tap my shoulder, catching my attention.

I turned to meet the owner of the hand and, well, who else could it be?

"Hi," the pinkette greeted with a beautiful smile.

"Hey," I answered, smiling at her.

"So you came, I hope the trip from the third floor wasn't too arduous?"

"You'd be surprised at the amount of work climbing one set of stairs takes in these pants."

"My apologies, sir."

"Hn. Annoying." She began to form a response, but was pulled away from me by Ino to meet some other guests. I masked my disappointment from losing her and turned back to my friends, who seemed to be awestruck.

"No way," Naruto and Kiba said simultaneously.

"What?" I demanded.

"I knew it was too good to be true," Neji muttered.

"What're you guys talking about?"

"You talked to a girl, and actually smiled," Shikamaru explained. I rolled my eyes at them in annoyance, we were just talking, what's so special about that?

"Ok, Sasuke, we admit defeat, us guys will have to find love elsewhere," Naruto admitted before leaving with the other 3 sulking men. I watched them go in amazement, what the hell just happened? I shook my head at the exchange before following them. I had just about caught up with them when Ino stopped in front of me, greeting me with a smile.

"Hi, Sasuke!"

"Hey," I muttered, trying my best to not sound rude and keep my patience.

"Enjoying the party?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

"Hn."

"How's work been?"

"Fine."

"I bet you're arresting all kinds of people, huh?"

"Hn."

"Ok, good talk, I'll see you later!"

"Hn."

The conversations I had with her were always draining, even though she wasn't that bad of a girl, she just wasn't for me. I didn't hate her, though, people thought I did, but I never hated her, I actually thought she was kind and tried my best to deter from me so that she could find a man who could make her happy.

Unfortunately, my efforts had been in vain.

I went back to trying to catch up with my friends, but this time I ended up bumping into a small girl that I hadn't seen.

"O-oh, sorry, Sasuke," Hinata Hyuga apologized.

"That was my fault, sorry, Hinata," I answered. Hinata Hyuga was Neji's cousin, she was shy and timid, which was partly the reason why Neji was overprotective of her, like an older brother.

"It's fine, are you enjoying the party?"

"I am, I didn't know you were friends with Sakura."

"Y-yeah, I met her at a supermarket with Neji," she giggled slightly in between sentences, "We started talking and all Neji could do was try his best to not stare at her."

"That sounds like him," I agreed with a smirk on my face. None of my friends knew this, except for Kakashi, but Hinata and I were actually much closer friends than anyone knew. The reason behind it was because she always knew when to be quiet, which I appreciated a lot. We started talking from time to time because of it, and gradually became friends. However, in high school, I had found her crying one time because her father had beat her for something, and I had comforted her. From then on, we never minded each other's company, and I was glad that Sakura had chosen such a good person to be friends with.

"But I can't blame him, all of the guys stare at her, wherever we go," Hinata said with a laugh. But right after, she became quiet and started to twiddle with her fingers, something she had always done for years. "Even Naruto," she said quietly.

Hinata had a crush on Naruto since high school, and I was fairly certain that she might be in love with him, but because she was always so quiet, Naruto had barely noticed her.

"He'll notice you, Hinata, don't give up just yet," I assured her before lightly patting her on the head and parting ways with her. I made a mental note to mention Hinata to Naruto later, it was the least I could do, though Neji might try to kill me for it.

Oh well.

I finally caught up to my friends, who were sitting on the sofas, sharing glasses of wine with each other.

"Hey, Sasuke, don't mind us, we're just drinking away our pain," Shikamaru said as I took a seat.

Sometimes, I really hated my friends, more like all the time.

I poured myself a glass of Boscarelli Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano, damn that's one long name, and sat back, sipping on it occasionally while listening in to the guys' conversation.

"Did you see all the free agency signings? I can't believe Adrian Peterson is a Saint," Naruto began.

"He's crossing the 30-year mark, plus. It's not like he's gonna be enough to get the Saints into the playoffs, not while Matt Ryan and Cam Newton exist," Kiba argued.

"Don't forget about the Bucs," I mentioned casually.

"True," Neji agreed.

"The Cowboys lost a lot of players from their defense," Kiba said.

"Yeah, they did," we agreed.

"The Draft is gonna be awesome!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist in the air. Sometimes I forgot he was a police detective, honestly, he was still a kid at heart, though that wasn't a bad thing. Sometimes I need his lighthearted talk, it distracted me from my thoughts.

The football talk continued for a while until I caught sight of something interesting. I saw Sakura in her bedroom, alone, staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thought.

"I'll be back," I said before putting my glass down and walking into her bedroom, closing the door to keep out any disturbances. She didn't notice me until I had walked up behind her. She whipped her head around in surprise before noticing it was me, and her stance became calm again. I went next to her, looking out the same window as she was, taking note of how the view from the fourth floor was much better than the view from the third.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I whispered softly.

"Yeah, it is."

"But that's not why you're here, is it?" She looked up at me before looking back out the window and shaking her head.

"My parents...I know we probably won't get along, but I had hoped that they would at least call." I stayed silent, letting her continue as I stared out the window to keep my attention off of her figure.

"Is that selfish of me, Sasuke? To want them to at least call me?" I chuckled at her question, surprising her yet again.

"Right now, you and your parents are in a...bad place, but they'll get over it eventually," I said.

"How do you know, Sasuke? Don't get me wrong, but you don't even know them."

"You're right, I don't, but something tells me they're awake right now, thinking of how to make it right, and how they regret everything they said to you."

"I hope so."

"They are, trust me, you're too annoying to forget about." She scooted closer to me and I let her, moving my arm so she could lean onto my chest. She sighed and closed her eyes, almost tempting me to follow suit, but I kept them open, scanning outside. From the fourth floor, you could see over some of the buildings that blocked my windows, meaning you could see even farther than you could from my apartment. Most of the buildings were dark, probably workspaces that had cleared out or uninhabited offices. The night sky was always beautiful in Jacksonville, always clear and quiet, forming an almost perfect atmosphere, I couldn't say it enough times to do it justice.

Even through all that, all of the atmosphere and everything else, only one thing had my complete attention, the girl currently leaning on my chest, breathing evenly and softly, was it possible for someone to breathe sweetly? I closed my own eyes, giving into temptation, and leaning my chin onto her head, almost falling asleep while standing in the process.

The door swung open and both of us separated to see Ino giving us a weird look before putting on her usual cheery face.

"We're about to cut the cake, hurry up!" She said before almost running out of the room. Sakura and I shared a look before walking out to see a pink cake with emerald frosting lining the edges waiting.

"You don't have to eat any, I know you hate sweets," Sakura told me quietly.

"I'll be just fine, don't worry," I replied. Everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" as Sakura cut her cake and blew out the two candles that spelt 25. I stood there, motionless as the choruses stopped and she started cutting pieces and handing them to everyone.

"Are you sure you want to eat it?" She asked me as she handed me a piece.

I smirked at her before replying, "oh, I'm not eating it." Her face twisted into a look of horror, realizing what I meant by those words.

"Sasuke, I swear," she said, backing away from me, but I advanced with every step I took, like a predator cornering his prey.

"Get her!" Naruto yelled, cheering me on. She was trapped, there was nowhere for her to go, so she shielded her face with her hands in a futile attempt at saving herself.

"What? I'm not doing anything," I said innocently. When she peeked out over hands, I took my opportunity. In one swift motion, I shoved my plate onto her face, covering her in frosting and pink cake. I quickly stepped back and hid behind Naruto, who, along with everyone else in the room, was laughing at what I had just done.

"You're dead, Uchiha!" She shouted, taking her own plate and advancing towards me. I swung Naruto around, using him as a shield to protect my face from being assaulted.

Of course, Naruto fell on his ass as I swung him, and within a second, my own face was covered with the same cake on Sakura's face.

Everyone stayed silent for a second before bursting into laughter, including her. I couldn't help it, her laughter was contagious for me, like an infection. So I laughed with her, and I had to admit, it felt good. We looked crazy with the frosting smeared on our faces, but I don't think either of us cared. We just stood there with everyone else, laughing. When it died down, Naruto decided to go and embarrass me, just because.

"Hey Sasuke! I've never heard you laugh like that, I wonder if someone in this room has something to do with it?"

That asshole.

I glared at him fiercely and began to stalk towards him, ready to hit him for being a dick.

"Ok, Sasuke, we get it," Kakashi said before grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the blonde. "Though he has a point," Kakashi whispered to me before letting go and chuckling all the way back to Rin.

"Let's go," Sakura motioned me towards the bathroom so that we could wash our faces of the sweet delicacy that covered them. I had almost washed my face clean before I felt a splash of water decorate my hair.

"You little-" She silenced me by throwing more water at me. She kept assaulting me, not even giving me time to counter her.

"Stop it!" I protested, but that only made her laugh. I knew I had suffered enough when I saw that she had gotten my shirt wet, so I decided to put an end to her continuous attack on me. I grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall so that she was trapped. And before I knew what I had done, we were staring at each other, our faces, our lips only a couple of inches away from each other's. I could feel her breath on me, beckoning me, calling for me, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to answer that call.

"Sasuke…" She whispered melodiously.

"Sakura…" I whispered back, entranced by her pink, plump lips. I slowly leaned in and closed my eyes, ready for her, more than I had ever been. I finally felt light, like I could have her and there would be nothing stopping me, that it would just be us.

I wanted her so bad, but of course, our moment was broken.

"Hey, what's taking you guys so long?!" Naruto and Ino yelled at the same time from outside. We quickly separated right as they walked in and pretended that nothing had happened, going right back to the sink to avoid any suspicion.

"Let's go! The others have to leave!" He yanked me by the arm and led me outside to where the guests had put on their coats and shoes, ready to leave for their own homes. I didn't look at Sakura, what was I supposed to do after that? I opted to just see everyone else out until it was just me, Sakura, and Naruto, standing in her apartment.

"I'm gonna go now, see you guys later!" Naruto announced before leaving me alone with her. I was nervous, like really nervous, what do I do? Just then, I felt something in my pocket and realized that I had never given Sakura her necklace, the item that I had hunted for.

"I never gave you this," I said, taking the small box out of my pocket and opening it for her to see. I could tell by the way her eyes went wide and how her mouth fell open that I had been right, of course.

"Sasuke, it's...beautiful."

"Like you," I wanted to say, but I didn't have the courage.

"Want me to put it on?" I asked. She nodded and lifted her hair, which had grown long enough to reach the upper half of her back. I walked behind her and secured it onto her, ignoring the feelings that raged in through my whole body.

"Thank you, Sasuke, it's perfect," she said as I finished putting it on. I nodded in acknowledgement and stayed silent, trying to find the words that I wanted to say.

She took a step closer to me, and I think I might've gotten a heart attack in that moment.

When did I turn into such a bitch?

"Sakura, I…" I trailed off, losing my tongue when she took a step back and disappointment covered her features, which in turn, made me feel guilty and frustrated at the same time, why did I make this so hard?

"I'll be seeing you, Sasuke," she said, putting on a weak smile for my sake. I couldn't do it. I walked out, wanting to say something before she closed the door, but I just couldn't. I walked back to my apartment, but I didn't open the door.

I banged my forehead against the door lightly before turning around and sitting with my back on the door. I lowered my head and stared down, wondering why I had to make things so complicated.

"That bad, huh?" I looked up to see Naruto standing there.

"What the hell do I do?" I asked, my voice slightly cracking.

"You love her, don't you?"

"You sound like your dad," I muttered.

"Yeah, some people say I look like him," he replied sarcastically.

"I almost did it today, I almost kissed her," I told him.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto said. He probably realized what had happened in the bathroom and kept quiet about it. "So when are you gonna tell her?"

"I don't know if I will."

"If you don't, I might just kill you."

"Hn."

"Please tell her this weekend, I'm begging you."

"What do I do? Walk in there and say 'I love you'?"

"Yes."

"It's not that simple!"

"Actually, it is, you both want each other, you're just getting in your own way, so man the fuck up and tell her."

With that, he got up and went into his apartment, leaving me there, contemplating on what I should do. Maybe I should go tomorrow, yeah, I'll go tomorrow, I'm going to tell her. With that thought in mind, I went into my own apartment, telling myself that I would tell her tomorrow.


	11. Suicidal

"What?" I demanded.

"It's a beautiful Saturday, Sasuke," Kakashi greeted.

"Stop."

"What?"

"Naruto told you, didn't he?"

"I have no idea what you're referring to."

"It's too early for your bullshit."

"I wouldn't have had to call you with my bullshit if you stopped getting in your own way."

"We are not having this conversation."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm hanging up."

And that's exactly what I did, ignoring the follow up call from him, because I really didn't want to talk about this with anyone.

Holy shit I sounded like a teenager.

I tossed my phone aside and rubbed my temples for a good minute before showering and going through my regular morning routine.

Only, it wasn't regular.

She was on my mind the whole time, and yeah, I know that sounds creepy, but it was true. Even when I was sitting and eating cereal, all I could think about was her.

All I wanted was to enjoy my Wheaties in peace.

I ate while watching TV, trying my very hardest to just forget about her, I had promised myself that I would talk to her today, but I wasn't so sure anymore. Its one of my problems, I make easy things seem so much more difficult than they seem, and this is a perfect example. But I was done with the old me, I was a new person now, someone with hope, and a chance at happiness, so I'm going to go take it. I built up my resolve and my courage while finishing my wheaties and the random movie I was watching. I slipped into a t-shirt and shorts and went to the door, ready to do this, I was ready.

I opened the door, and there she stood, about to knock. She was wearing jeans and a shirt, looking flawless as ever. Her eyes went up to mine, and we held each other's gaze for a quick second.

I wasn't ready.

"Sorry to bother you, Sasuke," she said quietly, avoiding my gaze, sending waves of guilt through me.

"It's fine, what's up?" I asked. She raised her head, and for a brief second, I saw her smile.

"It's actually some good news, my parents called me this morning."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they said that they were sorry for how they acted and begged for my forgiveness."

"And?"

"I forgave them, and they said how happy they were that their daughter was back to them, we caught up a bit after that."

"Wow, um, I didn't think they would call so soon, but that's great news, Sakura."

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you, that's it. See you!" She turned around and walked away, and I just stood there, motionless, like always. I closed the door to my apartment and stood there, completely still. I don't think there was a single murderer who scared me more than admitting how I felt to her, which may be a bit extreme, but also true. I clenched my fists, angry at myself for being such a coward, angry that I couldn't tell her.

All that rage channeled through me, and I took it out by grabbing a nearby glass and chucking it against the wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

I stood there for a second before regaining myself. I grabbed a broom and swept the glass up, eventually cleaning it all and throwing it out. Throwing the glass had done nothing to alleviate the frustration I was feeling at the moment, so it was really pointless. I sighed and laid down on my couch, feeling the hope slipping away slowly, and the only person to blame for that, was of course, me. All of these feelings made me feel like some lovestruck teenager, and I hated it, I hated that I felt this way, and yet, I couldn't stop myself from being like this. This was a chance, an opportunity, and I was squandering it. I got up and looked out my window, trying to see if the view of Jacksonville could occupy my thoughts, but all I saw was her disappointed face from last night. She had seemed so shy before when she had told me about her parents, she was never shy with me, not even when we met, not even after I had told her about my parents, not even when she saw my eyes turn crimson.

What if she had given up?

What if I had lost my chance?

No, I wouldn't allow it, so before I went up and told her everything, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly while gazing outside at the at the morning sun. Usually, the brightness of it annoyed me, which is why I favored night to day, but right now, it didn't bother me a bit. I didn't take anything with me other then my phone and key when I left and slammed the door shut. I walked up the stairs, almost running as I made my way to her door. Suddenly, everything weighing me down, all the guilt, all the pain, it felt like it left my mind, I just felt light.

But when she opened the door and I saw her eyes slightly red and eyelids swollen, the guilt came back. She had been crying, for what, I didn't know, all I knew is that I had to be here.

"I'm ok, Sasuke, really," she began, but I wasn't going anywhere this time, not a chance in hell. I closed the door behind me and locked eyes with her for a brief second before she looked away.

"What happened?" I inquired.

"Nothing."

"Really?"

"Yes, really, I just ate something spicy."

"What was it?"

"A pepper."

"What kind?"

"None of your fucking business."

"Must've put you in a mood."

"I'm not in the mood for this, Sasuke."

"Then tell me what's wrong."

"Please just leave."

"Sakura-"

"LEAVE YOU ASSHOLE!" Anyone else would've been scared when she yelled like that, but all it did to me was confirm that something had really messed up her head. I stood there, rigid and unmoving as she breathed heavily and tears spilled from her eyes.

"Please...just leave," she said shakily before sitting down up against the wall with her head buried in her arms, kind of like what I did yesterday. I sat down next to her, wondering what to say since I didn't know what had gotten her so upset.

"Why won't you just leave?"

"I don't know, probably because I would look like an asshole," I said with a smirk. She looked up at me and cracked a half smile for a quick second, but I sensed an opportunity. "You gonna tell me now?" She had already looked away, I missed my chance.

Goddamn it.

"Sakura, please, don't be like me, don't keep it in like I did."

"I don't want your advice, Sasuke, you wouldn't understand my problem anyway, so just stop prying."

"So you're just going to keep quiet about it? After all that talk you gave me about being open and sharing?"

"You have no right to lecture me! You haven't even told me or anyone everything about you, have you? Not Kakashi, not Naruto, not anyone, so don't you dare try and give me advice." She tried to get up and walk away, but I caught her arm and pulled her back down so that she was looking me right in the eyes.

"You want to know everything? Fine, but if I share everything, you do too, that's fair."

"Sasuke...I'm not sure if I can." I grabbed her hands in my own and looked deep into her irises.

"You can."

She closed her eyes and nodded her head before tightening her grip on my hands.

"You go first," she whispered quietly, drawing a laugh from me.

"The years after my parents had died were obviously hard on me, but the hardest was my 17th birthday. I remember Kakashi teaching me how to drive a car, and after countless hours, I had gotten it down. Kakashi was always there for me when I needed him, I don't think I'll ever be a able to repay him for all that he's done for me. That being said, he filled the role of father for me, but there was no one to be a mother for me, and my brother was still hiding out somewhere because the authorities had thought he killed my parents. So while Kakashi did everything in his power to be everything a young boy needs, he still had to work as a cop. After he was promoted to head of the station about 2 months after my 17th birthday, he began coming home later and leaving earlier, the work was piling up for him. Before his promotion, he would always be home by 6, and we would always eat dinner together. We would tell each other about our day, I always looked forward to those conversations, they made me think of Kakashi as my new family, and up until he became the head of the police, I really did."

I paused for a second.

"He became my new family. But then he began coming home later, and we was always drained when he got back, sometimes, he looked like he was on his deathbed. I knew I was being selfish by expecting him to always put me ahead of everything, deep down I knew that, but-"

I took a shaky breath before continuing any further, after all, I was about to tell her something that no one else knew.

"It's ok, Sasuke, you don't have to go on," she told me, but I was determined to go through with this, no matter how hard it was.

"It felt...it felt like I had lost my family again. First, my parents and my brother, now Kakashi, it felt like I had lost 2 families before I was even 18, I didn't know what to think. I thought it was because no one needed me, that I was just a useless human who was supposed to die back then, but didn't. It hurt so much, Sakura," I took another breath before looking her straight in the eyes, "It hurt too much."

Her face was a mixture of confusion and sorrow, but I still wasn't done.

"I couldn't take it, so when I came across a small bridge about 30 feet above a lake one day, I decided that it would be it. I wrote four letters: one for Kakashi, one for Naruto, one for Naruto's parents, and one for my friends: Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Hinata. I remember that day, it was a Thursday, and it was raining, I thought it was an omen. I remember going to school like normal, ignoring everyone except Naruto, but before I left, I told him that he meant a lot to me, that he was the best friend I could ask for. He was confused of course, that's kind of his thing. I walked home with the letters in my backpack, and I left them in my room, on my desk so that Kakashi could find them. I walked to that bridge where no one was, just me and the water. I remember looking to the sky and letting the rain fall onto my face and hair. I remember thinking of how I would never feel rain again. I remember thinking about everyone, my parents and Itachi, Naruto and his parents, Kakashi, I remember how sorry I felt for letting them down, that in the end, I was nothing but a coward that took his own life. I remember my phone ringing and Naruto's name flashing across my screen. I remember ignoring his call because If I answered him, I was afraid that I wouldn't go through with my plan. So I left my phone on the bridge and climbed up. Water was running down my face, but I couldn't tell if it was rain or my tears, or a mixture of both. I remember thinking of how cruel life had been to me, how it had taken my innocence from me when I was just 7 years old. Funny thing was, when I jumped, I was smiling a little because I was going to see my parents again. But when I hit the water and was letting myself drown, everyone flashed through my mind. Kushina cooking for me and making sure I had my vegetables, Minato ruffling my hair and hugging me after I made the game-winning touchdown in the state championship, Kakashi carrying me from the police station after my parents had been killed with a reassuring smile on his face, Naruto and I pulling off pranks at school and at the mall, I remembered it all. I realized then that I didn't want to die, I still had things to do in this life, I still had people who would always be there for me. So I swam up and gasped for air once I broke the surface, I remember feeling so relieved when I realized I wasn't dead. I swam to the land and ran up the terrain so I was back on the bridge. I had grabbed my phone and ran home as fast as I could. I remember going into my room and collapsing in tears. I heard Kakashi come home and call my name a couple of times before walking into my room and finding me in that state. He never asked what had happened, or why I was soaking wet, he just hugged me and rubbed my back as I cried onto his shoulder until I couldn't anymore. He stayed in my room until I had fallen asleep, only then did he leave. I never tried to kill myself again after that, I never even thought about it, but I still felt like something was missing ever since then, but I think I've found what's been missing."

I was out of breath from how much I had said, so I stayed quiet and looked at her. Her eyes were wide and tears were spilling out of them. Her mouth was slightly agape at my revelation, I might've told her too much in too little time.

"It's your turn, Sakura, you better not break your promise," I teased.

"What the hell! My problem wasn't that depressing!"

"Sorry."

"Ok, fine, a promise is a promise." She took a deep breath and looked my in the eyes like I had done to her.

"Ok, I really don't know how the hell I'm supposed to do this, to be honest, I'm kind of freaking out right now, Sasuke."

"That's why I'm here."

"No, you don't understand, that's why I wanted you to leave so badly, oh my god this is going to be so weird."

"Sakura?"

"I can't do it!"

"What's wrong?"

"Sasuke, I can't! I'm freaking out!" She really was. She had gotten up and started walking around the apartment like a true madwoman, which was kind of scaring me.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she started saying, was I witnessing someone go crazy? I had enough of this mindless uttering and whatever the fuck else you can call it, so I got up and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her chanting and walking around.

"Sakura, what the hell is wrong?!"

"YOU!"


	12. Confession

**Attention: Lemons Ahead. Let me know if I did it right or not. This is my first fic so I'm still relatively new to the scene, all feedback is appreciated! Also I** **realize that Sasuke is a bit OOC in this story due to him being not as sullen or dark but that's how I intended him to be. Anyways, enjoy!  
**

* * *

Forgive me for taking a step back and looking at her like, "Huh?"

She could see the shock on my face clear as day, which was stupid of me. She panicked and ran into her room, closing the door and locking it too fast for me to intercept.

"Sakura! Wait!"

"Go away! Just please...go away." There it was again, the crack in her voice that only I seemed to cause.

"Would you stop being such an annoying drama queen and open the goddamn door!" My patience was really wearing thin, I swear I was about to snap. She began to open the door slowly, but I was too pissed off to care. I just about swung it open, surprising her in the process.

"You're just gonna drop that shit on me and walk away? Seriously? You're not even going to let me respond?" I was fuming, from everything, mostly because of myself and my inability to tell her, but also from her avoiding me, I was sick of it.

"So I can hear you make up some excuse? I saw your face, you obviously want nothing to do with me, so do us both a favor and leave."

"That's what you think? That I want nothing to do with you?"

"What am I supposed to think?! We almost kissed yesterday and then you go and run away, do you know how that makes me feel, Sasuke?" My eyes flashed red, that evil crimson color that looked like it was sent from hell, like I was Hades himself. But she didn't back down, not her, anyone else would've been scared, but her?

Not a chance.

She got right in my face, her voice barely above a whisper, eyes flashing with pain.

"It hurt me, Sasuke, that's why I was crying."

Fuck.

Now I understood. This whole time, it was both of us.

"I thought it was just me, this whole time, I thought I was the only one hurting, Sakura. I'm so sorry," I whispered to her, my eyes returning to onyx. Now, it was her turn to be confused, but unlike me, she didn't take a step back, if anything, she came closer to me. "I've had feelings for you since we first met, Sakura, I won't lie, but I never tried anything because of who I am. I wanted to so badly, you have no idea how much I wanted to."

"Why didn't you, Sasuke? You could've saved us this conversation."

"I know, Sakura, but you know me, probably better than anyone, you know how much pain I've stored inside me, you're the only one who really knows."

"I know, Sasuke."

"I wanted to let go, I wanted to bury my feelings for you, I even tried to hate you, I tried, but I couldn't. Every time I was with you, I genuinely felt happy, you made me smile when no one else could, hell you even made me laugh, no one can do that, how the hell was I supposed to stop feeling things for you?"

"Sasuke…"

"So I tried avoiding you, and yet, here I am, with you."

Silence.

"So Sakura, what's next?"

"Oh god, Sasuke, I…"

"You what?"

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry, damn you, asshole." I smirked in satisfaction at her name-calling, it never really felt like an insult when she did it.

"Hey, Sakura." The tears were already welling in her eyes, ready for what I was saying next. "I think you've done it, you annoying girl, though I kind of want to hear you say it first," I said with a smile before moving my hands towards her cheek, intercepting her tears with my thumb.

"Sasuke Uchiha is the biggest asshole in the world."

"Not exactly what I was thinking," I replied. She giggled and leaned into my touch.

"But I still fell in love with him."

Hearing her say that...it was better than hearing any music, any sound that the world could conjure, it was perfect. Her feelings were so pure when I looked into her eyes, they glowed with warmth and love, more than I could handle.

I leaned my forehead onto hers before whispering, "Do you want to know how you make me feel, Sakura?" Her hand went onto my chest, right over my heart, which was beating so erratically I thought I might be having an attack. A few moments passed before she nodded with an unusual timidness she usually never exhibited. Her eyes went up to mine, and I saw something disturb the usual warmth they held. It was a look that I knew too well.

Fear. She closed her eyes and began to lean away from my touch. I knew if I didn't do something, I would lose this chance, and I wasn't about to do that, not when I was so close.

"Sakura, look at me." Her eyes met mine, and I lost my ability to speak for a second before recovering and pulling her close to me. "You brought feelings that I buried long ago back, you took my bruised heart and nursed it back to health. I realize I might sound like someone out of a romance novel, but at this point, I really don't care. You're fucking perfect, and I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, I'm sorry for all the tears I've made you shed. I should've been better, especially to someone like you. I'm sorry." I took a deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage that I could into the next words that came out of my mouth.

"I love you."

She threw her hands around my neck, and finally, after so long, I finally got to put my lips on hers. Her lips were soft and tender, just like I imagined, they were perfect, like her. It was picturesque, my hands on her hips, holding her to me while her hands were around my neck, cutting off my movement. We melded perfectly with each other, our bodies completely in sync with the others. It was soft and sweet, and we stayed there until our oxygen supplies had run out, only then did we separate, breathing heavily but foreheads still touching. Her eyes showed everything: love, happiness, and...desire. I complied happily, diving in again, but more hungrily this time. I attacked her lips with mine greedily,

I wanted all of her, everything she had, I wanted her so badly. I let my tongue loose, attacking her own mouth with it. She engaged her own tongue onto mine, attacking it. It was a battle for dominance, both of us fighting each other, twisting and turning. She gave in after a bit, submitting her mouth to mine, letting me roam inside at my will. She moaned as I kissed her fervently, as if I was on a time limit. I left her mouth and traveled downwards, nibbling all around her neck, marking her as I lost my control at the taste of her.

"Sasuke," she gasped, "Bed." I slipped my hands downwards underneath her thighs and lifted her before collapsing onto the bed with her beneath me. My hands roamed her body, and she reacted to my touches like it was familiar. I took my lips off of hers and stared into her eyes for a brief second, time stopped flowing, and I was frozen.

She smiled at me, and all I could think was how lucky I was. She tugged the bottom of my shirt, sending me a clear message of what she wanted, and I was more than happy to oblige. I took it off and threw it aside while she removed her own, revealing a black bra underneath. I smirked as she blushed under my gaze, but she wouldn't let me win so easily. She pulled me downwards and again our lips met, melding perfectly with each other. It was like a dance, the way we were moving against each other, and we were both keeping up. Our tongues clashed like swords, twisting and turning, trying to get an edge over the other, but in the end, we were evenly matched. I knew she wouldn't let me win, at least, not this time, she was intent on keeping up with me, matching every kiss, every touch, sending waves of pleasure through me.

I slowly reached my hands to her pants in between kisses, slowly untying the knot of her sweatpants and slipping them off, revealing matching black undergarments. And like I had mentioned, she was keeping up with me, ripping off my shorts and tossing them aside to reveal my plain blue boxers. She grabbed me and yanked me down on top of her, not even letting me catch my breath. I had to pull back to regain oxygen, and she took the opportunity to flip me using her hips so that she was on top. She smirked down at me victoriously, and I could feel my arousal flaring, I really needed her. The way she was grinding her hips on me wasn't helping me control myself either. She leaned down and again our lips met, and it was just as satisfying as the first time.

I put a hand on the back of her head, deepening the kiss while slipping my tongue into her mouth, roaming it, tasting it, familiarizing myself with it. She moaned in pleasure, clearly appreciating my actions, but still wanting more of me.

"Sasuke," she moaned louder, and it was my turn to switch the tables. I moved quickly so that I was on top, hovering over her while we both breathed heavily. For a second, it all went quiet, and suddenly, I was scared, scared of her, of what she was doing to me, to my heart. She noticed it, and before I could build my walls and shut her off, she had already gotten to me. Her hand massaged my cheek, sending warmth through my face while her smile had my stomach flipping all over the place.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, still looking right at me with those damn eyes that could control me at will.

"Are you sure?" I asked, making sure that she wanted me, all of me.

"If I wasn't, then why would I be under you right now?"

"True."

"Dumbass." She giggled at my offended look before leaning up and kissing me again. "I want you so badly, Sasuke, you have no idea," she whispered.

"I think I do," I whispered back, mirroring her eyes with mine. With that, I, let her remove my boxers while I pulled down her black-laced underwear and threw it to the side. I kissed her neck, nibbling on the sensitive part of it, drawing a moan out of her. Slowly and effectively, I moved downwards, making my way to her bra-covered breasts.

We had to fix that.

I ripped the thing off using my teeth, my hands were taking too long, and threw it to where her other clothes were residing, next to the bed, and off of her. She was completely naked, only wearing the necklace that I had given her, and there was no sight that was better, not even close.

"Beautiful," I whispered.

I kissed her again before moving my lips down to her breasts, pressing light kisses on them before enclosing my mouth on one of them and massaging the other with my hand. She moaned loudly and her hands shot to my hair, she gripped my ebony locks and tugged while I pleasured her with both mouth and hand, sucking and fondling her breasts, satisfying her desires, but I was far from done. I moved even further down, pressing light kisses to her toned abdomen before reaching my desired location. I looked up at her and kissed her again before flashing a devious smirk. She shuddered as my hands went to her breasts, fondling them again, but my mouth was elsewhere. I slowly moved down and slipped my tongue into her, and she almost lost it.

"Sasuke!" She moaned loudly, hands, going into my hair again. I moved inside her, twisting and turning, just like when we kissed, but there was no resistance from her, only moans and cries of my names which the neighbors could probably hear, but who the hell cares. I kissed her sensitive parts, tugging at them with my teeth before dancing my tongue on them. She tasted like her scent, like cherry blossom perfume. She was pure ecstasy, moaning and fueling my desires with every noise she made or with every utterance of my name. Her legs were wrapped around my shoulders, her hands were grabbing handfuls of my hair, her body was moving to the flow of my tongue, God she was sexy. My own hands were still wrapped around her breasts, feeling them and massaging them, adding even more pleasure to the sensation she was feeling. She was began to rock faster, more urgently, she was nearing the end. I worked even faster, using my thumb to massage her clit while my tongue did the rest. All I could hear were her pleasured moans turn into cries of my name.

"Sasuke!" She gasped over and over, chanting my name as if it were a spell. She threw her head back and cried out even louder, the neighbors were definitely pissed. "Fuck, Sasuke! I'm going to-" She gasped sharply as I slammed my whole tongue inside her as hard as I could. She gasped silently, over and over, removing her hands from my hair and clamping them over her mouth as she let out a muffled cry and finished. She whimpered as I lapped up her juices and kissed her clit one more time before planting a deep kiss on her, slipping my tongue inside and meeting her own, taking what little breath she had left away before finally leaving her be. She was sweating and panting heavily.

"Sas...can't...breath," she gasped out before closing her eyes and throwing her arm across her forehead. Before long, her breathing returned, although she was still slightly panting and her eyes were still shut.

"Hey," I whispered to her while nudging her arm, "you want water or something?"

"Please," she said in between breaths. I got up from her bed and returned quickly with some nourishment for her. She sat up and gulped down the water in seconds before handing the glass back to me. I rolled my eyes and muttered, "drama queen" before taking the glass and rinsing it before returning to her. I should've known, I should've fucking known that she wouldn't let me win, not her, anyone but her. She was sitting up, still nude, just like me, but her eyes were flashing with pure lust and desire, and her lips were curved up into a smirk.

"Sasuke," she cooed, making me shudder. She noticed my reaction, and all it did was encourage her even more.

Fuck.

She got up from her sitting position and slowly walked over, that confident smirk still plastered on her face. I was frozen, I literally had no idea what to do or expect, so I stood there in the doorway, eyes glued to her extravagant body. She grinned devilishly and showed off her pearly white teeth, was there any part of her that was flawed? "Sasuke," she whispered seductively before tracing my chest with her finger. I gulped, she had me under her control now, there was nothing I could do. She leaned up and kissed me, pinning my back to the wall and putting her hands all over my chest, like I had just done to her. Her arms eventually ended up wrapped around the back of my neck as she deepened the kiss. It was dynamite, of course, as if it would feel any different. She tasted so good, better than any alcohol, better than any food, even tomatoes. I was so intoxicated with her, I was so drunk off of her, but I didn't want it to stop. But she pulled away, much to my disappointment, but she had a reason for everything.

She leaned up and whispered into my ear, "you didn't think I would let you leave, did you?" I shivered as she spoke softly and sweetly, yet her words contained lust and desire, just like her eyes had. I felt her teeth clamp down onto my earlobe and she kissed it before slightly backing away. Then, she leaned in again, kissing the side of my head. "Sasuke…" she whispered, and that's when I gasped in surprise as her hand clamped onto my hardened member. I gasped even more audibly when she began to stroke it gently, pumping it rhythmically. But then it stopped, and her hands went back onto my toned chest. She kissed me again, but soon left my lips for my neck, which she nibbled and marked me multiple times. I was going to have to make up some excuses for that. Her mouth went over my chest, and she traveled further until her tongue went out and swiped over my abs. I groaned in pleasure, submitting to the fact that she was going to do whatever she wanted now, but I would return the favor later. She kissed all 8 of my abs before moving back up to my neck, attacking it with her teeth.

Her eyes shone as she looked up at me, the warmth and happiness from earlier returning briefly before pure lust returned and she licked her lips hungrily, yet, seductively.

That's when I lost every ounce of control I had.

I lifted her and collapsed onto the bed on top of her, pressing a long kiss onto her lips before leaning back and staring at her for a second. We just locked gazes until I entered her with my hardened member. She gasped audibly before releasing a loud moan, which only encouraged me further. I gripped the bedsheets and proceeded to keep going as quickly as I could. She tried to move her hips in accordance to my thrusts, but she couldn't match the pace at which I was going. I leaned down and kissed her hard, absorbing the moans coming out of her mouth. Her nails dug into my shoulders as her legs tightened around my waist. I kept thrusting, fast and hard, I had held this in for too long, there was no more teasing, just me and her. I stopped kissing her when I ran out of breath, but my pace didn't slow. Her moans became louder and louder, prompting me into action. I covered her mouth with my lips again. letting her empty her noises into me, and only me, no one else could have her, that's for sure. She released my lips and threw her head back. "Sas-ah!" She cried as she completed her orgasm. Her walls squeezed down onto my member, forcing me to release myself as well. I growled as I finished inside of her, driving her into a deeper ecstasy. She breathed hard, I had completely worn her out because she couldn't even speak for 2 minutes, only uttering half words as she gasped for air.

I wasn't doing that much better, though

I was breathing hard and my forehead was beaded with sweat. I forgot where I was on the bed and almost fell off. If I did I probably would've just fallen asleep on the floor to be completely honest, I was tired as hell. For a couple minutes, we just lay there, wiped out.

"It's ok, Sasuke," she leaned in close before whispering, "next time, I'll let it last longer." I narrowed my eyes at her before muttering, "evil bitch". She giggled and planted a brief kiss on my lips before laying down. I grabbed the blanket and threw it over the both of us, covering our nude bodies. She leaned in and kissed me again before beaming up at me, that shining smile present again. She laid her head onto my chest, and within seconds, she was fast asleep. I couldn't help but smile before throwing an arm around her, bringing her closer to me, before giving in to sleep myself.


	13. Deidara

**Attention: More Lemons Ahead**

* * *

I awoke to the feeling of someone toying with my hair, and of course, it was the pink-haired beauty that was always on my mind. I blinked a couple of times before looking at her bright green eyes, noticing that in the dark, they always shone. I realized that she was a perfect contrast to me, I was the dark, with my onyx eyes that sometimes seemed like pools of darkness, whereas she was the complete opposite, she always shone, she was the light in darkness.

"What're you thinking about?" She asked quietly, still toying with my ebony locks.

"Your eyes," I said before chuckling, "that sounded weird." She giggled and scooted closer to me, letting go of my hair and leaning her hands on my bare chest. She pressed a light kiss on my jaw before settling her head on me and closing her eyes again.

"Should we get up?" She asked, her voice muffled since her face was buried into the crook of my neck.

"Nah," I replied without hesitation. The sky had become dark, meaning night had come. We had work tomorrow, but there was still more than enough time to go back to sleep and enjoy each other's presence for a while longer. I looked down at the still pinkette draped over me and couldn't fight the small smile that came to my face. She was so damn beautiful, I don't think I can say that enough to do her justice.

"Stop staring," her muffled voice sounded again before she turned and looked up at me.

"Can't help it," I replied simply. She lifted her head and met my lips with hers, and that's all it took. I returned the kiss while she lifted her legs and straddled my waist. I took a quick breath and sat up with my back leaning against the headboard of the bed before attacking her lips again. My tongue snaked out, and this time, she easily gave in, letting me deepen the kiss. I withdrew my tongue and bit down on her lower lip lightly, drawing a pleasured moan from her.

"Fuck, Sasuke," she breathed out. I moved down and kissed her pulse before going back to her lips and pulling her closer. Her hands went down and pressed against my abs, the cool feeling making me hiss into her mouth. I kissed her even harder, gripping her hips tightly so that she wouldn't fall back. We stayed like that until our lungs began to scream for oxygen, we separated, breathing hard and enraptured with the other. We looked at each other, her bright eyes meeting my dark ones. She moved so that she was positioned on top of my hardened member, ready to satiate both of our needs. She leaned and kissed me before slamming down onto me.

I gasped from the sudden contact before groaning as she rocked against me, filling me with all the pleasure I could handle. Her lips descended onto mine again, and I happily accepted them, kissing her with the most passion I could muster. Then, she threw her head back and moaned as the pleasure filled her just as intensely as it did to me. I moved my head down and took one of her breasts in my mouth while securing her by keeping my hands locked onto her hips. She began to whisper my name with every stroke, each time uttering it more intensely while I occupied my own mouth to keep my groans suppressed. I removed my mouth and nibbled on her neck, creating another mark to accompany the one from before. I planted more kisses than I could count on her neck and pulse before nibbling on her sweet spot, causing her to moan my name even louder.

"Sasuke!" She half-moaned and half-screamed as she neared completion. I could feel myself nearing completion as she began to move even faster, lifting herself up and down with alarming speed. Her arms were wrapped around the back of my neck as support and I used my hands to guide her as well.

"Sas...uke!" She moaned loudly as she finished. Her walls constricted around me, sending me into completion as well.

"Fuck!" I groaned as I filled her with my fluids. She rocked a couple of more times to completely empty me out before collapsing against my heaving chest. She wasn't moving, and I was a little worried that we had completely drained the energy from each other's body. I rested my head atop of hers and sat there, breathing hard and feeling exhausted, like I said, this girl was going to be the end of me.

"Fuck, Sakura," I breathed out. I felt my chest rumble from her light giggling and I chuckled in response. We sat there, regaining our stamina and ability to breathe for at least 10 minutes. I ended up lifting her off of me and realized that I had never removed myself from inside of her sex. She slightly winced at the loss but laid down next to me regardless.

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't feel my legs." I looked over to her and we began to laugh at the same time.

We were fucking crazy.

She rolled over and resumed laying her head on my chest before throwing one of her legs over me and putting her entire body on top of mine. She fit perfectly, but I already knew that. I wrapped an arm around her and was overcome with the desire to sleep and recover from our activities.

* * *

When I woke up, she was still asleep, breathing calmly and quietly, still peacefully slumbering. I checked the clock and saw it read 7:00. I probably should've woken her and gone back to my apartment so that we could get ready for work, but the way we were right now, her naked body pressed against mine, all I wanted to do was stay there and not move anywhere.

So that's exactly what I did. I absentmindedly twirled a piece of her pink hair while thinking of what lay ahead for us at the office. I was tempted to text Naruto or Kakashi to see if they had gathered any new intel on the theater bombing, but my phone was in my pants, and my pants were on the floor, so that idea was out. I really wanted to find out who the bomber was and why he had done it. It didn't sit right with me, why would someone bomb a movie theater of all places? Sure he might've just wanted to kill some people without motive, but it just didn't feel right. What if he was targeting a person inside the theater? I sighed and continued playing with the pinkette's hair, it was pointless to just think of these possibilities with no basis. The police would have to deal with this, Sakura and I would be busy ourselves. The clock hit 7:10, and I was still laying there, refusing to move with Sakura still quietly asleep on top of me. 7:15 came and passed, followed by 7:20, then 7:30, at which I decided that missing work was probably not a good idea given the amount of time we've both taken off for our respective injuries.

"Sakura," I said before shaking her lightly and rousing her from her sleep.

"Hm?"

"We have to get ready, it's 7:30." She grunted and planted herself back onto me, refusing to move.

"We have to go you annoying girl."

"No."

"Sakura."

"No."

"Sakura."

"No."

"Sakura."

"Ok, fine!"

I smirked as she gave me a small glare before pushing her hands onto my stomach and using me as a support to get off of the bed.

"Annoying," I muttered before grabbing my discarded clothes and slipping into them.

"Do you want to eat something?" She asked.

"Let me shower and put on some clean clothes, I'll be back in 10," I told her. She nodded and walked to the bathroom, and all I did was stare at her naked form like a pervert. I'm a guy, what can I say? I quickly opened the door and walked in, making my way to the bathroom and showering, all the while thinking about the events that had transpired the day before. It all seemed like a dream, like that was what would've happened in a perfect world.

Was confessing really that easy? After I had worried about it for so much time, was that all I had to do? I closed my eyes and remembered what had happened. We told each other how we felt.

We kissed.

A lot.

We went to the bed.

Sex happened.

We fell asleep.

Woke up.

More sex.

Went back to sleep.

Woke up.

Maybe it wasn't that complicated.

I sighed and let the water drench my hair, I missed her touch, it soothed me. Now I just felt...I don't know, sort of empty.

I turned the water off and dried my hair before stealing a glance at my phone. 7:54.

Fuck.

I quickly dried the rest of me and slipped on a long-sleeve shirt and jeans before bolting through the door. I ran down the stairs and almost collided into Sakura, who had been waiting in the building's lobby for me. Dressed in a black t-shirt and green shorts, looking stunning as per usual. She held out something wrapped in foil to me and I took it.

It was a freshly toasted bagel.

She was perfect.

I handed her my car keys and proceeded to sit down in the passenger seat of my Camaro. I bit into my breakfast and rested my head against the window, observing my setting like always. Jacksonville seemed...brighter than usual. I ate in silence, noticing that Sakura was uncharacteristically quiet. She seemed deep in thought, like she was preparing to say something, but she couldn't find the words.

I knew how that felt.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It can wait," was all she said. I sat there, studying her face, noticing how she always looked blank when she was thinking about something. I decided not to pry though, after all, she had done the same for me. We reached the office and I opened the door to leave, but a hand on my arm stopped me.

"Sasuke?" I could tell from her voice that she was nervous about what she was going to say next, so I closed the door and gave her my full attention, as if she didn't always have it. "Sasuke...I, well I wanted to be clear, I guess," she began nervously. She was never nervous, especially not around me, so this definitely must be somewhat important. She began to play with my her fingers and focus her eyes downward, avoiding my gaze, whatever this was, it definitely concerned me. I reached out my hand and settled them onto hers before using the other to tilt her head upwards so that her glowing green eyes could meet my gaze.

"Don't be nervous, it doesn't suit you," I told her. She nodded and took a deep breath before looking me straight in the eyes with her usual intensity, causing me to smirk, my girl was back.

My girl.

"I just want to be clear on what we are, as in our relationship."

That statement always went one of two ways in my experience. One, the guy says that they are a couple, and the girl gets all happy and whatever. Two, the more common one, the guy doesn't know what to say, so the girl gets the opposite of happy and their relationship is pretty much fucked.

I've suffered through plenty of rom-coms with Kakashi to know how this went. To be honest though, I was a little surprised at the question altogether, I thought we were pretty clear on what we were to each other. I opened my mouth to go with option one, but then I closed it, because she deserved more than some simple words. They always said in school that actions speak louder than words anyways.

So I threw option one out of the window, instead making a third option, because I can.

I leaned in and planted a soft kiss onto her lips, and she returned it with the same gentleness. I could feel her lips curving upwards into a smile, option three was a success. I pulled back but kept my forehead on hers because I didn't want to lose the feeling of her skin on mine.

"That's what we are," I whispered softly and sincerely. She smiled at me and nodded, and in that moment, a horrifying conclusion had dawned on me.

"Sasuke?" She called out, noticing the panic-stricken look on my face.

"Oh god," I began, "I've become the guy in romance movies."

There was actual horror in those words, no bullshit.

She burst out laughing, and all I did was glare at her, how could she laugh at something like this?

"You're hopeless," she said in between giggles. I pouted and looked away from her like a child, which only made her laugh more. I decided to exit the car, knowing that she would keep laughing and because my face had turned completely red. Unfortunately, she had seen it, and she was right behind me, still slightly giggling. I wouldn't admit it, because it sounded really corny, but hearing her laugh was soothing, I didn't know why, but it just was. I tried escaping into the elevator from her, but of course she made it in with me.

She had stopped giggling and had settled for leaning her head against my shoulder in the last peaceful moments we had until 4 PM. She began to hum the tune of a song while the elevator climbed the floors, her beautiful lips curved up into an angelic smile, eyes closed, there really never was a time where she didn't look fucking flawless. That also meant there was never a time I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, damn my wandering eyes and perverted mind. The elevator dinged, and we walked out to a bunch of yelling and some confetti.

"WELCOME BACK!" our coworkers shouted in unison before walking up to Sakura and asking her about her wellbeing and whatnot. I sighed, the noise was too much, so I settled for walking over to my desk and landing on my chair. There were some reports for me to fill in, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing else. Thank God, if there was a mountain of paperwork for me to deal with I might as well have just jumped out the window.

Fuck paperwork.

"Enjoying the party?" A man asked me before sliding up a chair next to me.

"Of course, can't you see it on my face?" I mumbled back to Jugo, who seemed to be amused by my expression as always.

"Shouldn't you be with her? You are her partner." "I think she can deal with them, though a lot of the guys had that hungry look in their eyes."

"You don't mind?"

"She can take care of them just fine."

"I see."

"Hn."

"I think Suigetsu might be trying to sneak in a little touch." I shot up and scanned the crowd, but Suigetsu was at the end of it, disappointed that he couldn't get closer to her. I sighed in relief before noticing that Jugo was holding in laughter at what had just occurred.

"What?" I spat out.

"You seem to care an awful lot about her, Sasuke, seems like you've grown attached." The bastard had already figured out my feelings for her, how the hell does he do that?

"You're so weird," I muttered before sitting back down, but now I really was worried that someone would try to feel her up, men do things like that sometimes. I sat there, anxiously waiting for her return while ignoring Jugo, who had began to tease me about her. I tried to tune him out, but he can be so damn annoying when he wants to be.

"Ok, I'll stop," the giant said when I covered my ears to block out the noise. He chuckled and put his chair back before leaving me in peace. I uncovered my ears and spotted the pinkette making her way towards me, finally relieved of the crowd that had gathered around her. She sat down in her chair in the same manner I had, tired of dealing with all those people probably.

"Why are people so tiresome sometimes?" She complained.

"You always attract attention," I pointed out.

"No I don't." I gave her the most incredulous face I could muster, leading her to laugh and cover her mouth to stifle herself.

"I've never heard such a stupid statement," I muttered.

"What?" She protested.

"Everywhere you go guys are always falling over themselves looking at you, hell I've even seen some girls do the same thing." She blushed and hid her face from me, how could she not have noticed all the guys staring at her?

"Annoying and oblivious," I muttered with a smirk plastered on my face. She pouted, and in that moment, all I wanted was to kiss her, but we were at work, and that stuff was prohibited. I noticed how her eyes peered at my lips for a second before turning to her desk. I smirked in satisfaction, knowing that I had the same effect on her as she had on me.

"Oh, Sakura, what are we going to do with you?" I cooed, showing that rare playful side of me that only she drew out. I knew all too well how she would react, but it still satisfied me when her face turned bright red, almost matching her pink locks.

"Stop!" She whined before burying her face onto her desk to prevent anyone else from seeing the blush painted across her cheeks. I chuckled and took out one of the reports on my desk before grabbing a pen and proceeding to fill it out. Most of it was just the usual stuff, filling out case details and costs, this stuff was a breeze, but it didn't make me hate it any less. But when I got to the last file, I froze.

It was a picture of a man with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. His hair covered one of his eyes, and his mouth was curved upwards with a sinister smirk.

The name read: Deidara.

No last name. He was the one who had bombed the theater.

"Sasuke, calm down." Her hand went over mine, calming the trembles that were coursing through my body. I took a deep breath and read over the file.

Multiple counts of arson and murder, the man was wanted in 15 countries and accounted for around 200 kills, he was a top of the line terrorist, meaning he was the worse kind of scum that existed in the work. I trembled with unbridled rage, and I could see my vision changing colors quickly. Deidara was everything wrong with the world, a senseless murderer who enjoyed his work, I could tell from the smirk on his face that he held no remorse.

I had never seen the man before today, but I already held so much hate for him that my mind began to burn with fury. I felt an overwhelming bloodlust, Ibiki had to give us this mission, if Sakura didn't want to come then I would do it myself like I had in the past so many times. My vision was almost crimson at this point from the building rage in my body, and I thought that I was going to scare the shit out of everyone in the office.

"Sasuke," A soft voice said. I whipped my head up to see those pools of emerald staring back at me with that warmth that I had cherished. All it took was one look, and I could feel myself beginning to calm down, my eyes returning to their normal black and my mind no longer plagued with murderous thoughts. I felt all my hatred dwindle away, like she had sealed it away with her eyes. It was replaced by the affection I held for her, how one person could have such an effect on me was anyone's guess, but it didn't matter to me.

"I'm ok," I whispered to her, waiting for her to sit back down before glancing at the file again. According to the information gathered, Deidara was in the state of Florida, he had never left ever since the theater bombing, meaning he was here for something, but we had no idea what that something or someone was, all we knew was that the 5'10" bastard was going down. He was listed as number 6 on the FBI's Most Wanted list currently, probably proud of that standing too, the asshole.

"So you've seen it," Ibiki said, walking towards Sakura and I. "We've put most of our other operations on hold for now just like the other Florida offices, right now the FBI's main focus is finding Deidara, so I want you two to work diligently." He turned his attention to me and his eyes held some concern.

"I know this is personal, Sasuke, but please try not to let your emotions get in the way." I narrowed my eyes at him and held up the file for him to see. "I don't care about him hurting me, I care about this," I said, pointing out a part of the file that detailed his kills. There were numerous witness statements written in the file, but the one that had gotten me so pissed was one from a boy named Konohamaru Sarutobi. He was only 14 years old, and Deidara had killed his parents in a Paris bombing. The boy lived with his grandfather now, so he still had some family left, but losing your parents damages a boy, I knew that all too well.

Ibiki nodded and left for his office to help conduct the investigation with the other station chiefs. I turned to see her staring at me with those comforting eyes again, and I felt the tension leave my bones.

"He's making more kids like me, Sakura, more kids consumed by loneliness and darkness," I began.

"Sasuke, you're not-" she began, but I cut her off.

"I was lucky, Sakura. I have you, Naruto, Kakashi and all of my other friends, but these kids, some of them might not be so lucky. You dragged me from my darkness, but who's going to drag kids like Konohamaru out of theirs?" She pursed her lips and went quiet, probably trying to think of a response to give me. "Come on," I motioned, "we won't find him by just sitting on our asses." I grabbed the file and we walked to the elevator. I punched the button for the ground floor and waited for it to make its way down.

"You're right, Sasuke," She said, gaining my attention, "these kids have lost so much, but you seem to forget that they have people in their lives as well. Konohamaru probably has his own Naruto and Kakashi, he'll have people to guide him after everything he's lost." She paused and looked up at me with her sparkling eyes. "I've seen a lot of people who have lost loved ones, but none of them have been consumed by the darkness like you had, not even close. So if you can come out of the dark, then I think these other kids have a good shot at it as well. You were consumed by more pain than anyone I have ever seen, and you still healed, how about you have some faith in kids like Konohamaru to do the same. He has his grandfather just like you had Kakashi, and I'm willing to bet money he has his own version of a Naruto too."

I opened my mouth to respond to her, to tell her that she was wrong, to tell her that loneliness is a curse, but than I thought about it, and it dawned on me that she was right, as usual. People usually got over their loss, even if it took longer than expected, but they bounced back. I never let myself get over it, I chose to lead my life based on a tragedy. I chose to be lonely, I didn't have to be.

"Loneliness is a choice, Sasuke, not an excuse," she said, reading my mind. I stared ahead at the elevator doors, fighting the urge to tell her how right she was. "Also we're going to catch this bastard, anyways, so I don't know why you're so worried," she said nonchalantly. I chuckled and leaned my head against the elevator walls, closing my eyes and relaxing myself. The doors finally opened and I walked out with her, ready to find Deidara and give him a little payback.

We got into my car and looked at the file again. Deidara's exact whereabouts were unknown, however, thanks to some recon from the Tampa office, they had narrowed it down to Fort Myers, a major tourist destination, a populated area, meaning the perfect target. The city was surrounded by beaches and was only accessible through the various bridges leading into it. However, the bad part was, Fort Myers was a 5 hour drive from Jacksonville, meaning we would have to be inactive for 5 hours.

"Damn it," I sighed before noticing a couple of men approaching our window. I rolled down my window to greet Jugo and Suigetsu, who seemed to be coming to Fort Myers as well.

"Hey, Sasuke," Jugo greeted. I nodded in return and glared at Suigetsu, who was staring at Sakura. Thankfully, Jugo had noticed and elbowed Suigetsu to bring him back to Earth.

"S-sorry!" He stammered before rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

"Us and some of the other field operatives are heading down to Fort Myers as well, we can work together once we're there, Sasuke," Jugo explained.

"Hn," I acknowledged.

"Follow my car, we'll all be traveling together but in separate cars. I'm sure you'll appreciate that."

The orange-haired man gave me a knowing smile, and I was suddenly filled with the desire to knock some of his teeth out. Suigetsu followed Jugo to their RAV4 and I waited for them to leave the station before revving up my engine and following them.

"I'll drive the second half," Sakura stated.

"No, get some rest."

"I can sleep for the first half, then you can sleep the second."

"Just let me drive the whole way."

"That's not fair to you! I know you're looking out for me but I'm not a child, I can take care of myself." I sighed in defeat, I just could never win an argument against her.

"Fine." She sat back in her seat with a victorious smirk before removing her shoes and stretching out her legs.

"You can lay down in the back, you know," I told her.

"I could," she said before leaning her head onto my shoulder. It only took her 3 minutes to fall asleep, and silence ensued. As I followed Jugo, I found myself thinking back to when Naruto showed me the image of the back of Deidara's head from the theater camera. He must not have known it was there, which was surprisingly sloppy for such a well-known criminal. Normally he was the type to always show his face somewhere nearby his exploits.

In Paris, he had shown his face to a camera a couple of blocks from the restaurant he had rigged. In another attack in Tokyo, he had grinned at a camera near Tokyo Tower. He was the type to love attention, so why didn't he show his face here? More importantly, he was known for hitting big cities: Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, Moscow, those types of places, why go from all those big name cities to Jacksonville?

Don't get me wrong, I love my home, but its not nearly as recognizable as his other targets. I pulled out my phone and tapped on Naruto's number, careful not to wake the sleeping pinkette.

"Yo," he greeted, "wanna get some food later?"

"Can't, driving to Fort Myers right now."

"What?"

"Remember the theater bomber? Turns out he's number 6 on the FBI's Most Wanted, and he's in Fort Myers right now, Ibiki deployed most of the agents to go find him, so that's where we're going."

"Oh, when you coming back?"

"I don't know, we're trying to get him as fast as possible, obviously, but who knows, the man is a criminal mastermind."

"Who's gonna keep my company now?"

"You have other friends."

"But they never wanna do anything."

"Maybe you should try finding a girl then." My mind drifted to Hinata for a second, but knowing Naruto, he would stay oblivious for the rest of eternity.

"Speaking of girls, how'd it go with Sakura?"

I thought back to our "activities" last night when he mentioned that. "It actually went well."

"Tell me everything!"

"No, stop being weird."

"Ha! That means you guys did nasty things!"

"I am not having this conversation."

"Ok, fine. So tell me more about this Most Wanted guy."

"Name's Deidara, has notable attacks in Paris, Tokyo, Seoul, and Moscow among others. His file indicates that he's affiliated with other people, but we don't know who are what they are, but he usually goes lone wolf during bombings, but he could definitely have people who work with him."

"So where do you think he's going to try and strike?"

"Fort Myers has a lot of tourists everywhere, I'm thinking at one of the main attractions."

"You better find him, I'm googling his attacks right now and this guy has killed some big names. He's killed some Paris politician and the son of one of Tokyo's biggest businessmen."

When Naruto said that, something in me clicked. "I have to go," I said quickly before hanging up. "Sakura, wake up," I whispered before nudging her.

She blinked a couple of times before noticing the look on my face. "What is it?"

"Can you check the victims for his bombing in Seoul?" She looked through the names and rattled them off, most were just civilians, but there a couple of names that were recognizable. 3 of them were highly regarded businessmen, but the name that caught my attention was Jacque de Molay, a French SCRT agent.

"Check Moscow." Again, civilians, except for a Russian politician who served under Putin.

"Oh my god," I breathed out, how could the FBI have overlooked this?

"Sasuke, what does this mean?"

"All of his attacks have been assassinations masked by civilians, I should've known!"

"But who's in Fort Myers?" My eyes widened and I stared out at the road at Jugo's car.

It crept up onto me, the realization that Deidara was so much more than a simple terrorist, that if he wanted to, he could rig a bomb anywhere he wanted, and we would be too late to stop him. He was a true sadist, savoring every kill under his name, enjoying the fact that his name could strike fear into the governments of the world. There was no mindless killing, his attacks were calculated. He had gone to some of the world's largest cities and left without a trace. The only evidence we had was what he gave us when he looked to the cameras and smirked for the world to see.

Now, he was in Fort Myers, and it was no coincidence that the entirety of our Jacksonville Office was en route.

Who was his target? That question seemed quite simple now.

"Us," I whispered quietly. Sakura froze. I looked over and saw fear creep into her eyes as she shuddered slightly.

"What do we do?" She asked quietly. The fear had made its way into her voice, and I couldn't blame her. The number 6 man on the FBI's Most Wanted was after us, even I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at the thought. She began to shake slightly, the cold reality of our situation slowly taking over her body.

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"You are not going to die, Sakura, that's not an option."

"It's not me I'm worried about, Sasuke, it's you."

"You know me, I'll be fine." I pressed my fingers onto her forehead and watched her worried expression slowly vanish, replaced with a soft smile and adoring eyes. She held onto my hand for the rest of my shift, all the way until we made a pit stop at a gas station. When I slipped my hand away to get out of the car, I noticed her expression turn to one of disappointment.

That's when I realized I was her anchor, just like she was mine, we were two pieces that completed each other, as weird as that sounds. I quickly went into the bathroom and came back to the car a minute later, slipping into the passenger seat and waiting for Sakura to finish filling the car up with gas. She slipped into the driver seat quietly and caught my eye.

My eyes held hers, and silent words were exchanged. We smiled at each other and I planted a kiss on her forehead before leaning back in my seat and closing my eyes.

Within a minute, we were back to following Jugo and Suigetsu with the other agents from our office following closely behind, we were like something out of Fast and Furious. My gaze landed on her, as it always seemed to, and I quickly found my body willing itself to rest for the 150 minutes that were left in our trip. I obeyed, closing my eyes with a ghost of a smile on my lips.


	14. Explosion

"We're here," Sakura whispered as she gently shook me from my sleep. I rose from my position and took a glance at our surroundings. It was a Courtyard Marriott that was right across from a shopping center where numerous people were walking in and out. That could be a potential location for Deidara to strike, after all shopping centers are always populated during hours. We walked into the hotel with Jugo, Suigetsu, and 4 other agents whose names I forgot because they weren't important.

The 8 of us walked in and went to the front desk. While Suigetsu got us our rooms and keys, Jugo leaned down and whispered, "We have to get 2 rooms to save the office's money, Ibiki's orders, sorry."

I inwardly groaned in displeasure, Sakura and I would probably end up sharing a room with Jugo and Suigetsu, meaning we couldn't do, as in _do_ , anything.

We walked to the elevator and in a minute or so, we got to our rooms. Rooms 408 and 410, right next to each other, as expected.

"Here," Suigetsu handed me a key to our room, 408, and proceeded to enter with us trailing him. Sakura and I claimed the bed nearest to the window while Jugo and Suigetsu threw two pouches to us containing toothbrushes and toothpaste, the travel kind. I set mine aside and sat on the edge of the bed, checking my phone and texting Kakashi about where I was.

"We're going to meet up with the other guys and drive down to the police station, all of the FBI Agents from across the state are meeting there," Jugo explained before rising from his bed and walking outside. Suigetsu flashed Sakura a quick and toothy smile before exiting behind Jugo. I glared at his back and turned my gaze to Sakura, who was looking at me.

"That guy creeps me out," She mumbled. I smirked at her before getting up from the bed and leading her outside and down to the lobby, where Jugo and Suigetsu would be waiting for us. "How many agents do you think are going to be there?" She asked me.

I tapped my chin thoughtfully before replying with a simple, "70." She nodded and the elevator rang. Jugo and Suigetsu, along with the other 4 agents, walked out and made their way to their cars with us following from a distance. Sakura and I slipped into my car and we followed behind the others, leaving the parking lot and driving onto the main road.

Sakura connected her phone to the car and began to sing along to her music, something that had become normal in our routine. I sat there quietly, listening and focusing on the road, though the occasional smirk made its way onto my features sometimes.

As we drove, it became clear to me as to why Fort Myers was such a popular tourist destination. It was like an island, surrounded by the ocean and littered with greenery everywhere, the place was the definition of relaxing. If only we were here under different circumstances, we could've enjoyed the place.

Unfortunately, life still likes to fuck with me sometimes.

Sakura began to smile and stare at the various stores and stands around, I could easily tell that if we weren't on the job, she would've loved to stop and look around, and honestly, I wouldn't mind it either. The streets were busy with activity, people enjoying some downtime with their families or significant others, which meant that Deidara had plenty of places to strike from. That thought was enough to keep my mind engaged, the thought of a hidden explosive killing these oblivious people.

I glanced at the girl next to me, if she was even hurt from one of his attacks, I would kill him with my bare hands. Thankfully, she was still looking out of the window, absorbing the view around her, so she couldn't see the menacing look on my face. I stared ahead, gripping the steering wheel tightly while my teeth grinded against each other.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, her voice a soothing antidote to me. I relaxed my grip on the steering wheel and exhaled, there was no reason for me to be frustrated already, we hadn't even began investigating. We pulled into the driveway of the police station and exited our vehicles. The station was buzzing with activity from the inside, police officers being ordered to where they should go and patrol, detectives and lieutenants putting together their own crime boards to determine where Deidara would be.

"Discretion, people!" A loud voice called out, "do not put the public on alert! This is covert!" We made our way to the cafeteria, where all the tables had been set up and each was labeled with the location of an office. They would let us work with our own departments, but there was a huge board at the front which seemed to be where all the stations could gather info and use it as one whole unit. It seemed pretty efficient, though I hoped that the departments wouldn't treat it as a competition, people's lives were at risk. We saw a table with a sign that read 'Jacksonville', so we made our way over to see pens and notepads as well as dossiers laid out in front of us.

"Jacksonville department, I'm Alex Derifko, Tampa, welcome to our workplace," A blonde haired man greeted. One of our other agents greeted the man while I turned back to our table, studying the dossier.

"What's on it?" Sakura asked.

"It's all the locations of where the police officers are stationed and the info on Deidara we already have on our file."

"I'm guessing they stationed the officers at all the major tourist destinations?"

"Such an observant woman you are." She stuck her tongue out at me before reaching for another copy of the dossier and reading through it.

"So you're the famous Sasuke Uchiha," a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a short red-haired man flanked by a taller girl and a taller boy. The girl's hair was tied back in four ponytails while the other guy's hair was hidden by a hood. "My name is Gaara, these are my siblings, Temari and Kankuro, from the Tallahassee station, it's an honor to meet you Mr. Uchiha."

He extended his hand and I shook it quickly before saying, "Call me Sasuke, and I guess you already know who I am."

"Of course, you already have been recognized by the other agents here as our best man, it seems your previous successes have already garnered you a reputation as the 'FBI's Finest'. And from the looks of it, the female agents are very interested in getting to know you," Gaara said with a smile and quick glance at his older sister, Temari. She blushed as my eyes went to hers and thumped Gaara on the back of his head.

"You ass!" She hissed to him, drawing a laugh out of the red-haired man before storming away.

"Please excuse us, it was a pleasure meeting you, Sasuke," Gaara said before him and his brother retreated to where his sister had gone.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked from behind me, still studying the dossier.

"Some other agents, seemed trustworthy, but its too early to tell for sure." She shook her head at me, muttering "paranoid" under her breath before continuing her studies of the dossier.

"We're going to go to where the police officers are stationed and canvas as much of the area we can," Jugo told me before nodding to Suigetsu to get the car ready.

"Keep your eyes active and weapons ready, split up so you can cover more ground as well," I told Jugo, who nodded in response before following after Suigetsu and leaving the police station. I decided that maybe taking Sakura for a patrol would be a good idea, after all she would be able to see all of the sights Fort Myers had to offer, well at least one of them, and it would be productive as well, much more so than just sitting on our asses staring at a dossier for the day.

"Let's go," I whispered into her ear before anyone could interrupt us. We made our way out of the room and police station and out to the lot where my car was waiting. I slipped into the driver's seat and ignited the car, its engine roaring to life.

"Let's go to Lakes Regional Park," Sakura suggested, "that place is usually pretty busy and he could strike there considering that there's only one security camera within a mile radius, which is pretty dumb if you ask me," she explained.

"How do you know there's only one camera in a mile?" I asked, disturbed at how she knew something so trivial.

"You didn't read the whole dossier, did you?" She asked. I sighed in defeat and she giggled in response before turning on her phone's GPS and guiding me to the park she was talking about. We arrived shortly after, to a pretty astounding view, the sunlight shined on the roof of the lake, illuminating it and causing a yellowish glow. Numerous fisherman sat on top of the railing that ran alongside the sidewalk with baits and whatever else they required to hook as many fish as they could. However, despite the large amount of fishermen, there weren't many other people in the park, just a couple of kids hanging around and a woman with her dog. I looked around and spotted a cop car parked maybe 20 feet from my car with an officer leaning on the driver's door. He was constantly looking around, alert for any activity, hopefully all the other cops stationed in other places were showing the same dedication as this guy.

"Come on," Sakura said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. We walked alongside the sidewalk, staring at the ocean and at any people nearby, hoping to catch Deidara off guard, but we found no such luck. All the people we saw were civilians or tourists, regular people. "Should we keep looking? Its been an hour since we got here," Sakura said.

"How about we stay for a half hour then go somewhere else?" I suggested. She nodded in approval and held onto my hand again, sending sparks up my arm. I took her hand and shoved it into my pocket along with mine. It was odd that amidst all this Deidara crap we were walking in a park holding hands, although we were doing our jobs, technically. We stopped when there seemed to be no one else entering the park, meaning Deidara would most likely not be turning up, at least not to us. I leaned onto the railing and freed Sakura's hand, letting her lean on the same railing.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered, her eyes glowing and her lips turned up into a small smile.

"Yeah," I muttered, though I wasn't talking about the sunset. We stood there until the sun had finally gone beneath and the moon began to come out reflecting onto the water like the sun had before it. Damn this place was really nice, it angered me that Deidara would try and disturb the peace that the people had created there, I really hated that asshole.

"Ready to go?" Sakura asked. I nodded and we turned back to where I had parked the car. On the way back, we crossed paths with the officer and we acknowledged each other briefly before Sakura and I hopped into the Camaro and left the park. Fort Myers was breathtaking at night, even more so than in the day, though that might be my personal bias talking. There were those artificial torches lighting the streets and the adults had come out to play, meaning the alcohol and partying was probably in full effect by now.

"Oh god," I muttered.

"What?"

"I haven't had a drink in like a week."

"Congrats."

"This is serious, Haruno."

"Maybe you're turning over a new leaf, Sasuke. Look at you, all sober and stuff."

"I need alcohol."

"Stop being so needy, we can get a drink after this whole Deidara shit is taken care of."

"But that could be days," I whined.

"Oh my god, you're such a little kid sometimes."

"I just want a beverage that burns my throat."

"Phrasing, Sasuke."

"Shut up!" She burst out laughing as a blush crept onto my cheeks and I pouted at the road. "Annoying," I muttered. She punched my arm and I couldn't help but wince slightly, she packed a hell of a punch. We pulled into the station and sat there in my parked car for a minute.

"Do we have to go inside? All the guys in their are like Suigetsu," she said.

"What's wrong with Suigetsu?"

"I mean he seems nice and all, but when he stares at me I get creeped out."

"You're scared of him?"

"Not really scared, more like weirded out by."

"Hn."

"Why do you keep saying that?!"

"Cause it annoys you."

"Asshole."

"Hn."

"Ok, fuck you." She opened the car door and began to make her way inside, but I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to me. I checked if anyone was nearby, but it was just us. I leaned down and captured her lips with mine, I just couldn't help myself, I had gone way too long without tasting them, it was like going through withdrawal or something. I grabbed a hold of her hips and her hands wrestled with my hair while pulling me closer into her. We kissed and kissed for a little while before finally separating. I pulled away slightly and leaned my forehead on hers, slightly out of breath.

"What was that for?" She whispered.

"I can't do that in there, obviously," I answered, smirking down at her flushed expression. She reached up and pecked my lips one more time before giving me a dazzling smile. We went inside and to the cafeteria, where our table was littered with some notes and fast food wrappers.

"Welcome back," Suigetsu greeted. Jugo raised an eyebrow at Sakura's still dusted cheeks and my messy hair, he definitely knew what we were doing, that weird motherfucker. He handed me some of the notes they had, which was basically a bunch of doodles of Deidara and some other random shit.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded. "That's what we got on him so far, do you like my doodles?" Suigetsu answered and asked.

"These are some fucking drawings, you didn't find anything important at all?" I asked, livid with our lack of data.

"Um, n-no," Suigetsu stammered, looking frightened at my deathly expression. I crumpled the paper up and glared at him, letting him know exactly what I thought of his drawings.

"If tomorrow's notes are like this, Suigetsu, I'll slit your throat with a fish hook and use whatever's on it as bait, you little shit." He backed away from me, obviously shaken at my words. I glared again and stepped closer to him, which almost sent him into a panic attack.

"Sasuke," I felt a hand brush against mine and I turned to look at Sakura, who was trying her hardest not to laugh, but was clearly trying to get me to back off the cerulean-haired man in front of me. I got out of his face and just as I was about to sit down, the voice of the station chief sounded through the crowd.

"Listen up, agents, we'll be working in shifts! We're going to do it alphabetically, anyone whose station starts with A-M will take the night shift and N-Z will take the day shift. If you're station's name begins with N-Z, you are to report here tomorrow morning, as for the people who's station's names are A-M, you'll be staying until the morning and going back to rest during the day. That's it! N-Z get your asses out of here! Everyone else keep working!"

With that, about half of the agents in the room dispersed to leave for their hotels and get some sleep while the other half would continue working. By work, we meant keep canvassing areas to the best of our ability. We had no other information on Deidara, we thought we knew his MO, but after the theater attack, he might be changing things up, all we could do was cover as much territory as possible.

"Sakura," I called and motioned to the door. We made our way back outside and into the parking lot we were in only 10 minutes ago. And just like before, we were driving through the streets of late night Fort Myers, observing its civilians, who didn't have a clue as to what was happening around them. Lucky them. This whole fucking thing was so infuriating, like the world was trying so hard to make me into the person I used to be. I had finally regained myself, my emotions, my heart, and people like Deidara, their like reminders that nothing in the world stays good, like I would snap out of this little spell that was called 'happiness' and revert back to being a cold-hearted bastard who suffered from insomnia and constant nightmares.

"Stop the car," Sakura said, more like commanded.

"What?"

"Stop the car."

"Why?"

"Sasuke. Stop. The. Fucking. Car." I parked on the side of the street, right across from a closed coffee shop.

"Why am I stopping? Did you find something?" She glared at me so fiercely that it rivalled my own. "What?" I asked, exasperated.

"What the fuck is your problem, Sasuke?"

"Hold up, what?"

"You think I don't notice you glaring at the road? You think I wouldn't notice that your eyes started to change colors?" I didn't even notice that, how the hell did she? I pursed my lips and sat back in my seat, glaring up at the moon as if I could light it on fire with my eyes.

"So you're just going to sit there and glare at the sky? That's fine, let me drive, maybe we can get something done." I snapped my head towards her and met her eyes with my own fierce gaze. "Got something to say?" She taunted. God, she knew exactly how to get me mad, and unfortunately, exactly how to get me to talk.

"Its this whole fucking thing with Deidara, its bringing back the old me, from before we met, I'm just frustrated."

"Frustrated?" "I'm fucking pissed and I'm fucking annoyed! This guy is a prick and I want to catch him!"

"Are you sure that's it?"

I stared at her incredulously. "How do you do that?"

"Magic, answer my question." I took a deep breath and exhaled, there was no getting out of this, I was trapped.

"I'm...I'm trying, Sakura, I really am, but people like this, they just bring out the worst parts of me. I'm trying to be the man you think I can be, I'm trying to be better." I could tell that she was a little surprised with the genuine sincerity in my tone, to be honest, even I was surprised. "I'm trying so hard…" Her hand came out and poked my cheek, that was unexpected. "What the hell was that for?" I asked while rubbing my cheek.

"That was more for me than for you. And as for you trying so hard, I know, Sasuke, I get it. You were happy back home, and now you're dragged out here to catch some guy who loves dropping bombs. On top of that, he's after FBI Agents, so that only adds to your stress levels. This job, it brings out the worst elements of you, but only because you let it, Sasuke. You give up control too easily, and you know I'm right. You've been trying to keep your control, so Sasuke, try harder." I groaned and banged my forehead onto the steering wheel. "And I don't want you to try and be the man you think I want. I fell in love with you for you." Her being right was getting really annoying, really quickly. Then again, if it wasn't for her, I would've never gotten this far, I would've never began to fight my demons if she hadn't come into my life, and now here she was, still urging me to fight myself. Still though, did she always have to be right?

"I hate you," I muttered, my forehead still resting on the steering wheel.

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, Uchiha." She was smirking. I wasn't looking at her, but I knew. She was smirking victoriously.

Damn her.

I rose from the steering wheel and looked at her. She grinned and I didn't even realize that I was already smiling. But then I saw something in the coffee shop, a face.

With one eye covered.

With blonde hair.

A ghastly smirk covered his features. Then I realized he wasn't in the coffee shop. I was staring at a reflection. He was across the street, lost in the crowd, but I knew what he was doing. He saw us and he couldn't resist. He wanted his face to be the last we ever saw.

That's when everything went up in flames.


	15. Recover and Respond

I woke up groggily and the first thing I felt was the intense heat surrounding me. It was too hot for even Florida, it was too hot for anywhere in the world. My car had been flipped over, we were upside down. There were voices calling to us from outside but all I could make out was that they couldn't open the doors. Sakura was on top of me, regaining consciousness as well.

"You ok?" I asked. She nodded before her eyes trailed down to the steady flow of blood coming from my right arm.

"Sasuke, your arm," she said. It was bleeding and it seemed pretty deep, but stitches could fix that. Stitches could not fix our exploded bodies if the car blew up right now, so that was my priority.

"Help me get this open," I told her. I held up my hand and counted three fingers. We kicked the door open at the same time. I crawled out from my driver's seat position and waited for her to climb over to the door. I reached out and pulled her out before collapsing on the hard surface of the road with her body resting on mine.

"You're ok," I murmured to her, but I was convincing myself more than convincing her. An ambulance was already at the scene when we got out, so we wouldn't have to wait long to be transported. We must've been out for a minute or two, not enough time for my car to completely go up in flames and kill us both. Neither of us had any major injuries, which was another miracle. My car was pretty much out of commission at this point, but I was more upset that Deidara had been right across the street from us. I should've seen it coming. A couple of cops helped us off the ground and led us to the waiting paramedics.

I looked over to the other side of the street where Deidara had been standing before he almost blew us to hell. It was closed off with tape, but there were plenty of curious onlookers on the other side, including news reporters with their huge cameras. These people could've easily been caught in the explosion. Luckily, nobody other then me and Sakura had been affected by the bomb. There was a ton of property damage done, but that was unavoidable. I looked back to the wreckage and watched as the firefighters hosed down the flames coming from the shop. I looked away and closed my eyes, Deidara could've killed us with a stronger explosion, how could I have been so oblivious? I felt a hand grasp mine and looked over to Sakura who was looking up at me warmly.

"It's not your fault," she whispered.

"He could've killed you," I whispered back.

"But he didn't. No one was seriously hurt. He caught us off guard, it won't happen again." I sighed at her response and looked back to my Camaro.

"I can't believe he killed my baby," I told Sakura while they loaded us into the ambulance.

"You're so corny," she responded before giggling. I wrapped an arm around her protectively even though the danger had seemingly passed. No one would get to her, I made her a promise that I had nearly broken.

"I can't wait to see the smug bastard's face when we get him," Sakura told me. I chuckled lightly in response as she settled into my arms, well the one that wasn't bleeding.

"Mr. Uchiha, I'll just be checking to make sure your eyes and ears are fine," a paramedic told me. I complied with his tests and Sakura did the same, both of us were fine, except for the large cut on my arm from some shattered glass. "Both of you are fine. Usually we would take you both to the hospital, but since you're FBI Agents on duty, the police chief wants to forego all that, at least for Miss Haruno. Since that cut will require stitches, Mr. Uchiha, you'll have to come to the hospital to get patched up." I grunted in disapproval will tightening the bandages they had put on my wound.

"I'll come with you," Sakura told me matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry about me," I replied.

"If only that were possible," she retorted with an angelic smile. I didn't want her to get in trouble for coming to the hospital when the police chief had clearly given the paramedics specific orders, but I still wanted her to come with me. I knew it was selfish, but I never claimed to be a selfless guy in the first place. Sakura convinced the paramedic to let her go with me, and by convinced, I mean seduced. The guy was stammering all over the place and blushing too. I had tuned out everything she was saying because I knew my hormones would go crazy if I heard her purr. Even after surviving an explosion she drove my hormones insane. She sat down next to me as the ambulance left the scene of the explosion and was en route to the hospital.

"So dumb, making me go to the hospital, why can't they just bring stitches with them and patch me up here? Idiots," I grumbled.

Sakura giggled at my words before telling me, "you know very well why, Sasuke". I groaned and sighed, giving in to the fact that I would probably end up spending the rest of my shift in the hospital.

"Stop complaining," she said, as if that would make me listen.

"I do what I want, you infuriating woman."

"Like get blown to hell?"

"You were in the car with me."

"I'm not the one who has to get fixed up."

"Shut up." She giggled and laid her head on my shoulder for the duration of the ride. When the doors of the ambulance finally opened and a paramedic led me outside and onto the ground, I gazed up at the small hospital and sighed. There was two hours left in our shift, and I was most likely going to be spending them here rather than in the field. I followed the paramedic inside and went to the room he led me to with Sakura.

"Doctor will be with you in a few minutes, so just sit tight for now," he said before leaving the room. Sakura took my hand in hers and softly hummed a melody while we waited. I closed my eyes and listened to her quietly until the door opened and a short and stocky man came through.

"I'm Dr. Homesworthy, Mr. Uchiha, let's get to work on your wound, shall we?" I nodded in response and let go of Sakura's hand. The doctor slipped on some gloves and grabbed a stapler. "It'll sting a little, Mr. Uchiha, but it won't be that bad. Just two minutes and then I'll wrap it up and you can get out of here." I nodded and waited for him to seal the wound, but before he did, Sakura's hand slipped back into my grasp. I met her eyes and saw them filled with concern.

"You know I'm the one getting stapled, right?" I told her.

"I know," she answered, still holding onto my hand. I squeezed her hand a little tighter when the first one went into my skin but relaxed my grip after that while the doctor did his thing. The man was taking his time with the thing and kept asking if I was ok after each one. That literally went on for like 2 whole minutes. It was so annoying and if Sakura wasn't there, I probably would've snapped at the doctor for taking so goddamn long. When he finished sealing the cut, he wrapped bandages around the wound, concealing it and protecting it from the outside world.

"Keep that on for a week, maybe a couple days more, than you should be good to go," the good doctor said.

"Thanks," I muttered at his back when he turned to leave. When he was gone, I breathed a sigh of relief and reached for my shirt that I had thrown to the side of the bed. Her hand shot out and stopped me. I looked up, and when I saw that lust in her eyes from back when we were in her apartment, I knew what she wanted. "Sakura, our shift is over in like an hour, can't you wait for the hotel-" I was cut off when her lips descended on mine, silencing me and my thoughts. I reveled in the warm sensation of her lips as we fervently kissed each other.

"I don't want to wait, and we won't have the room to ourselves," she whispered when we separated to collect our breaths. We really shouldn't, considering the circumstances, I literally just got stitched up after getting my car blown up. Good thing I had Allstate, so I was in good hands.

Yet, after all that, I still found my body aching for hers, my lips yearning for her warmth, so I did what I had to. She straddled my hips and her lips pounced atop of mine. I gripped her sides and pulled her closer to me, deepening the kiss. She moaned into my mouth when I slipped my tongue inside, succeeding in turning me the fuck on. I moved like a viper inside her mouth, leaving my mark here and there, listening to her moans and how she whispered my name. When we separated again, breathing hard, she whispered, "I want you," right into my ear. Without missing a beat, I flipped over so that she was underneath me while my body hovered over hers.

"I need you…" she whispered, her voice laced with desire. Then, the door opened. With lightning reflexes, I rolled off and stood up while Sakura sat up on the bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this room was empty," a nurse said.

"We were just leaving," I replied, grabbing my shirt and slipping it on before following Sakura out of the room. Once we were outside and the nurse had went inside the room, we glancd at each other and shared a laugh before leaving the hospital and seeing Jugo and Suigetsu waiting for us.

"Shift is pretty much done, so we're going to head back to the hotel," Suigetsu said as we entered the vehicle. The ride back was quiet, mostly because I was mourning the loss of my Camaro, rest her soul. We pulled into the parking lot of the Marriott and made our way into the lobby. The receptionist saw us and stared at me a little too long for my liking, but I just ignored her. However, Sakura was shooting her an intense glare and I fought the desire to laugh. We quickly made our way up to our room where we would be until the start of our next shift. I went in and immediately collapsed onto the bed while grabbing the remote to turn on the TV. Sakura dropped down next to me and sighed when her body hit the soft mattress.

I smirked when she let out another contented sigh and closed her eyes while I flipped through channels. I ended up leaving some random movie playing, just as background noise. Even after all that had happened, I wasn't that tired, so I just wanted to pass some time before my body decided to rest. I leaned against the headboard of the bed, watching the scene on TV play out, a shootout. Bullets flew and dust was kicked everywhere as the two sides engaged each other. I diverted my attention to my phone, where I spotted a text from Naruto.

"Did you see the news?" It read. I texted back saying I did before tossing the phone onto my lap and returning to the movie. Jugo and Suigetsu had already knocked out, thankfully neither of them snored, unlike Naruto. He used to keep me awake whenever I was over his place with his snores, I think he had an obsession with making noise all the time. My thoughts were interrupted when Sakura's head laid on my shoulder and she curled her body against mine. I smirked and threw an arm around her, securing her against me. She smiled and wrapped both of her arms around my torso before eventually falling asleep in a minute. My phone began to vibrate and I saw Naruto calling me from the other end.

"Yeah?"

"So was anyone hurt in the explosion? None of the detail's have been made public."

"No, Sakura and I are fine."

"Wait, what?!"

"Keep it down, idiot."

"Why didn't you tell me you were the agents whose car blew up?"

"You didn't recognize my Camaro?"

"Oh, I must've missed it, but still!"

"We're fine, I didn't think there was any reason to call and concern you guys."

"You better next time if something like this happens."

"I'm touched, idiot."

"I mean it, Sasuke, I'm dead serious."

"I know, I will."

"So, uh...how's Sakura?"

"Fine. Why are you asking?"

"Did you guys make up and make out and stuff?"

"Don't you have work?"

"Shit! I do! Bye!" I chuckled and hung up the phone before putting it on the nightstand. I adjusted my body so that I was laying down on the bed with Sakura still curled up on me, still fast asleep. I closed my eyes and slowly drifted away.


	16. Sasuke VS Deidara

The bright rays of the sun blinded me when I opened my eyes after awakening from my slumber. I blinked the light away and turned my head to see Suigetsu on the other bed, still out like a light.

"Morning," I heard a voice on my other side call. I turned my gaze onto the pinkette resting on my chest, who was smiling up at me with half-lidded eyes.

Gorgeous.

"Hi," I whispered in my morning voice, gruff and husky. I heard the shower turn on and assumed that Jugo had woken up before all of us and decided to freshen up. Sakura noticed too, when I met her eyes I saw a mischievous glint in them.

"Guess we're sort of alone," she whispered, her breath tickling my neck as she leaned in closer.

"Hn," I grunted, unable to find the right words with the way she was looking at me. She turned her head down and pressed kisses onto my neck, igniting my desire.

If only Jugo and Suigetsu weren't here.

She pressed a kiss to my throat then moved to my jawline before leaning up and almost touching my lips with her own. She ran her tongue over my lips faintly before pecking the edge of my lips and moving back to look into my eyes.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, dangerously close to me, almost making me lose control. But then she backed away before I could, smirking deviously.

"Fucking tease," I muttered. She laughed slightly before moving back down and moving her mouth against my neck, nipping at my skin. She repeated her actions from before, kissing my jawline and then hovering over my mouth, but I wasn't about to let her get away from me again. When she made to move away, I pulled her into my lips, tasting what I had desired. She was all over me, running her hands up my underneath my shirt and moving her lips so fast I couldn't keep up.

"Fuck," I groaned, not able to suppress it any longer, she was dynamite, when she was this intense, there was no way I could match her. I wanted to flip her over and rock her world, but Suigetsu would definitely wake up. Sakura wasn't exactly the quietest person during sex, I'm pretty sure we woke up her entire floor back in her apartment, though I had no regrets about it.

My hands were perfectly positioned, one on the back of her head, and the other on her back, we were relentless, showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, we were so engrossed in each other's lips that we didn't notice that the shower had been turned off, only when we heard the bathroom door open did we realize that Jugo was about to walk in on us. Sakura sensed him too and rolled off of me, leaving me turned on and pissed off.

The orange-haired man walked out with a plain white shirt and black shorts, and his eyes fell on us. We made it quite obvious, both of us were completely out of breath, cheeks flushed, and lips swollen, only an idiot wouldn't know what we were up to.

Unfortunately, Jugo was not an idiot.

Fortunately, he didn't say anything, he just went back to his side of the bed and pulled out his phone, probably to read the news or talk to someone or something.

"I'm going to go shower," Sakura whispered to me, carefully looking to see if Jugo was looking. When she saw he wasn't, she pecked my lips one last time before grabbing her toothbrush and a new set of clothes. When I heard the bathroom door close, I sighed and went to reach for my phone.

"How the hell did Suigetsu sleep through that." Jugo's voice stopped my arm in its tracks. I couldn't help the amused smirk that crept up onto my face at his words, Suigetsu had to be one of the heaviest sleepers ever.

"I have no idea what you're referring to," I muttered.

"Of course you don't," He replied in an amused tone. I grabbed my phone and started to scroll through it until I heard the shower turn on. Jugo sensed it almost immediately and grinned real wide at me as if on cue.

"You're thinking about her naked right now, aren't you?"

I quickly turned away from him, but Jugo had seen my entire face go red before I could. He laughed loudly as I I hid my face from view like a child. How the hell this giant orange-haired man did that was beyond me, honestly he was like a psychic sometimes. I was always good at reading emotions and faces, its part of the job, but Jugo was just, different.

"Shut up," I muttered, hoping that he would stop laughing. He did, just returning to his phone as if our conversation had never happened.

I lay there, reexamining what had happened previously. Deidara had rigged a bomb in a coffee shop that we were parked near. He had to have been close, probably saw us stop and went inside to set up an explosive inside. I had a feeling that he was using a detonator, after all, he had waited for me to notice him before detonating, meaning a timer would've been virtually impossible unless he had timed it perfectly, but it was highly doubtful that he did.

But how did he know where we were?

It could either be blind luck or more likely he had been tailing us, maybe he had a way to track all the agents after him? The man has been avoiding the world's top class law enforcement agencies for years, so he was definitely experienced, he knew exactly what he was doing. From the looks of it, he knew what we were doing just as well.

I sat up and ran my hands through my hair, frustrated that I hadn't noticed him or that he might've been tailing us, I should've noticed him sooner. He could've hurt or killed Sakura because of my carelessness, I wasn't going to let him get the drop on me again.

I heard the bathroom door open and Sakura stepped out. Her damp hair covered her forehead and the tight outfit she chose had my stomach doing somersaults.

"Sasuke?" She called out, noticing my wandering eye. I got up and grabbed a spare set of clothes and made my way into the bathroom. Once I closed the door, I leaned against it, and breathed out a "damn". I quickly stripped off my current clothes and made sure to keep the bandages around my wound wrapped tightly before stepping in and letting the warm water fall over my skin. After I was soaked from head to toe, I stepped out and quickly dried myself, carefully avoiding my bandages. I dabbed them with my towel after to somewhat dry them before slipping into a button shirt and black jeans and making my way out to where I saw Jugo had fallen back asleep and Suigetsu was still sleeping.

But then I saw her, I saw the expression on her face, and I knew something was wrong, the way her eyes were wide and her lips were parted, I could tell she was spooked by something.

"Sakura?" I made my way to her and sat down next to her, concern etched all over my features.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, her voice laced with fear.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slightly worried by how scared she was acting.

"I've been thinking about how Deidara's attacks...they all had a specific target masked by numerous deaths," She paused and drew a breath before continuing, "Remember when I asked you why he would be in Fort Myers?"

"Yeah, I told you it was because he wanted to lure the FBI to one area."

"But what if he wasn't after the FBI? What if he was just targeting one person?"

"Who would he be targeting?"

"You," she whispered.

"What?"

"Deidara always has a target in his attacks. In his last two bombings, the only person who's been involved in both was you. You're his target, that's why he's here, he knew the FBI would get you involved." My eyes widened with realization, I should've know that he was after me, the way he smirked at me. It certainly did seem that he had taken an interest to me, but why?

"But he has no reason to go after me, Sakura."

"But he's still after you! It doesn't matter why!"

"She's right, Sasuke." I turned to see Jugo eyeing me with concern. "We don't know why, but I'm almost certain he's after you. Don't you think its weird that only three cars were blown up at the coffee shop, and out of the three yours took the brunt of the impact?"

Both of them were right, Deidara was after me probably, but the question still remained: Why?

What reason did he have to be after me?

Was it because I was known as the FBI's best? It seemed petty for him to target me just because of my title, but it was the only lead I had right now, so it would have to do.

"I'm going after him then, alone," I said.

"What?! How does that make sense? He'll kill you!" Sakura half-shouted at me. I cupped my hands on her face and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're crazy if you think that guy is going to kill me."

"But-"

"Sakura, he's had the element of surprise twice and I'm still standing, what makes you think he'll get me now that I know who he's after?"

"Let me come with you."

"No, I won't put you in danger."

"I can take care of myself!"

"I know you can, but I refuse to willingly put you in harm's way."

"Sasuke-"

I pressed a kiss onto her forehead, trying my very best to convey my emotions through my lips.

When I looked down, she nodded slightly, although she still held a worried expression.

"Deidara will get cocky, he'll underestimate me. When he does, I'll put a bullet in his head."

"You're going to kill him?"

"If I have to."

"Promise me you'll only kill him if he doesn't leave you any other choice. Promise me, Sasuke." I looked down at her and nodded. I would only kill Deidara if I had to.

"Now all I need is a car," I muttered, drawing a giggle out of the girl in front of me.

"Here," Jugo tossed me his keys, "I got insurance." I nodded and looked down at Sakura again before pressing another kiss onto her forehead.

"If you don't come back to me, I'll find you and bring you back to life so I can kill you again," she threatened.

"Yeah? How?"

"Magic."

I chuckled and kissed her before grabbing my phone and gun and making my way to the door.

"See you later, Jugo."

"See ya." I walked out the door only to be followed by Sakura.

"I'm not bringing you-" I cut myself off when she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face into my chest.

"I love you," she said. I smiled down at her and waited until she lifted her head up to meet my gaze. I raised two fingers and poked her forehead.

"Be back in a bit," I told her. She leaned up and kissed me again before watching me walk to the elevator and ride down to the lobby. I made my way to Jugo's car and swiftly ignited the engine. I took a deep breath and glanced up at the Marriott, specifically our room before driving away.

As of now, I had no idea where Deidara was, but if he really was after me, then he would find me, I was confident of that. I drove to the site of where my car passed away and got out of Jugo's vehicle. There was a large crowd gathered there, not as large as the one that had formed when the bomb went off, but still a pretty large crowd. It was mostly journalists and curious civilians looking to see why the street had been closed off.

I made my way to the back of the crowd and scanned it for any signs of Deidara. There weren't many blondes among the crowd which was unfortunate.

Blonde girl in her 20s judging from her purse and clothes, not Deidara.

Another blonde, but the hair was too short.

Blonde teenage girl, again, not Deidara.

I was beginning to think this was a waste of time because out of all the blondes I had spotted, none were the one I was searching for.

"Looking for someone?"

I stopped scanning, because when I heard that voice, even if I had never heard it before, I knew who it was.

"Deidara," I growled while keeping my gaze ahead.

"Go ahead, Sasuke, try to arrest me."

"I'm sure you'll tell me why that's a bad idea."

"Clever, hm! I've planted three bombs in Fort Myers and only I know the locations. Of course you can try to arrest me and interrogate me, but I can assure you that you will get no information from me."

"So how do you wanna work this out, Deidara?"

"How about I tell you where I am and you can meet me? Wouldn't it be fun to face off? Hm, Sasuke?"

"Cocky prick, give me the location, I'll be there."

"301 Woodland Boulevard, it's a huge warehouse, can't miss it. Oh, and come alone, Sasuke, wouldn't want that beautiful girl of yours to get hurt." I clenched my fists and grinded my teeth as Deidara disappeared into the crowd. I knew I would be playing his game, but like I told Sakura he would underestimate me, that's when I'll strike. I quickly turned away from the oblivious crowd and made my way straight to the car. I put the address into the GPS and sped off, drawing a little bit of attention with my speed.

I was strangely calm, surprising myself. I thought I would be fuming the whole drive there, but I was calm, even though I was playing a dangerous game, I knew keeping a level head would be to my advantage. I drove through the streets and spotted some kids at a park playing with their parents, unaware of the imminent danger. They could die, but they weren't going to, not while I was on my way to kick that blonde lunatic's ass.

I thought about calling Sakura, but that probably wouldn't be the best idea, she was probably worrying right now, and if I told her where Deidara was, she would definitely show up and put herself in danger. I had let her go off alone once before and she had almost died because of it, I wasn't about to go through that again. I drove for a little while until I reached Woodland Boulevard. I saw various warehouses lined up and checked the numbers on each one. 295, 297, 299...301.

Got him.

I parked the car and surveyed the surrounding area, which was unsurprisingly empty. There was nothing nearby, only the door to Deidara's hideout. I stepped towards it, still calm and in control of my senses, but I kept both of my hands on my twin Brownings, just in case. I pushed open the door and stepped inside the possible deathtrap. I saw what I expected to see, a mostly empty warehouse, except there were some bombs, probably prototypes or experiments, scattered across the place.

"Those were bad ones," I heard a voice echo through the place. I spotted him leaning on his desk, which contained some blueprints and a map with some markings on it.

"I'm guessing that's where you put the bombs?"

"Well done, Sasuke! Would you like to know my estimate on how many people they will kill when the bombs detonate?"

"No one's dying, asshole, except maybe for you."

"Wrong!"

"I'm going to arrest you now, Deidara."

"Oh, Sasuke, you fail to understand me if you think that's all it will take to bring me in. I'm here to bring you death, make no mistake about it."

"You can try."

"Very well." He lifted his hand and showed off a detonator. I tensed and readied my body to move. He pressed the button with that same smirk on his face from back when he blew my car up, the bastard. I heard an explosive go off and saw the support structures of the place begin to fall, specifically the ones I was standing right next to. I had maybe two seconds to dodge the structure, Deidara must've calculated so that I had no time to react, clever.

The only problem was, he miscalculated my speed.

I rolled away from the falling debris and brandished my guns, ready to blow Deidara away. However, he detonated again before I could fire, leaving me with little time to react. 4 more pillars blew apart and would've torn right through me if I hadn't taken cover behind the already collapsed pillars. I leaped from my cover and shot at Deidara, who took cover behind his desk.

"Stop resisting, Sasuke!" He yelled before detonating another pair of support pillars. I took cover as the debris scattered around the floor.

"You'll just end up killing us both like this, stop being reckless!"

"Shut up!" He yelled before pulling out an RPG. He aimed it at the piece of debris I was using as cover and prepared to fire and kill me. I quickly aimed my gun and put a bullet into his shoulder, skewering his aim. The explosive fired and sailed over me, blowing up the wall so that it covered the only exit in this place. "Idiot," I muttered before getting out of my cover and firing at Deidara, who took cover again. "Eat this, Uchiha!" He shouted as he threw two grenades from his cover. The explosives sailed through the air and judging from their current trajectory, wouldd fall right at me feet. So naturally, I aimed my pistols at the grenades, held my breath, and fired. A loud explosion sounded as my bullets pierced the grenades and blew them up well before they could wound me.

"You...what the hell?" Deidara said in confusion.

"To be honest, this is really weak," I taunted. He snarled and threw a couple more frags, but I fired and destroyed one before catching the other and chucking it back at him, destroying his cover. I ran across the fallen pillars, using the debris as stepping stones before reaching Deidara's unmoving body.

Deidara was good, really good, if it had been anyone else in the FBI, they would've been dead, but there was a reason I was considered the best. Even as a kid I was considered way too fast for my age. It wasn't just my speed though, it was my reaction time. My eyes tended to see things quicker than other people for some reason, even doctors couldn't pinpoint why they were so quick, but I wasn't about to complain about it.

I reached down and pulled Deidara's body over to see if he was still breathing or not, but when I did, the most horrendous screeching noise sounded through the air. I grunted in agony as I fell to my knees, whatever that noise was it was going to burst my eardrums if it went on for much longer. I looked to see Deidara with plugs in his ears, holding a device that was emitting the agonizing sound that was piercing my brain.

"DIE!" Deidara yelled, kicking me down to the floor. He kicked me in the stomach as I got up, sending me further back. "You little shit, I'll kill you slowly, make you feel the pain," Deidara said as he walked towards me. However, as he made his way over to me, I noticed something, I noticed that the ringing in my ears had stopped.

Deidara had stopped the noise momentarily, which gave me all the time I needed. I jumped up and isolated the arm with the device. I hit him with my elbow and pried his fingers free of the device. He dropped the device and swung at my face. I crouched down and was almost met with a knee to the chin, but I caught his leg and threw him aside. He rolled up to his feet and connected with a kick to my sides. I stumbled a little but caught myself in time to avoid his fists. I hit him in the side of the head with my own fist, staggering him back. He swung again, but I caught him with my left hand and then my right, sending him staggering backwards.

"SASUKE!" He roared and slashed his knife at me. He swung with intense speed at me, albeit wildly. I avoided one swung to the face before avoiding another swung to my stomach. He stabbed at me but I backed away, almost losing my balance on a piece of rubble.

"Always mind your surroundings," I heard in my head. It was a quote from Batman Begins. I sidestepped another stab and shoved Deidara over the heap of rubble, causing him to fall and lose his grip on the knife.

Always mind your surroundings.

When Deidara rolled over to attempt to get up, I front-kicked him in the face, sending him backwards. His head hit the floor hard, and a resounding crack sounded through the warehouse.

Deidara grabbed the back of his head in agony while screeching, "I'll kill you, Uchiha!" I punched his head, knocking him out cold, and grabbed the map of his bombs before slinging his body over my shoulder and running as fast as I could to the exit. The warehouse was close to collapsing, the falling pieces of the roof making it evident.

I made my way to the entrance which was blocked by some debris, so I dumped Deidara's unconscious body, ran back to his workspace, found a couple of his explosives, ran back, and threw them at the debris, all in that order. With the debris out of the way, I ran to the door and kicked it open, forcing it off of its hinges. I ran outside, to where there was already caution tapes surrounding the area, cutting it off from civilians.

"UCHIHA! GET OUT OF THERE!" I heard multiple voices scream at me. Normally I didn't listen to anyone, but in this case, getting my ass out of harm's way was probably what I wanted anyways. I ran away from the danger zone and to the waiting cops and agents who were on the day shift with Deidara slung over my shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing out, Uchiha?" One of them asked.

"Does that even matter?" I replied. The agent shut his mouth after that and returned to doing whatever he was doing. A couple of agents cuffed Deidara and took him into an escort car surrounded by numerous cop cars a full police escort. I walked through the crowd, pushing my way through cops, agents, curious civilians, and reporters. Some of the reporters shot questions at me like, "Were you trying to kill each other", or "Is Fort Myers safe?" I ignored them all and made my way to Jugo's car, but was surprised to see him leaning on it with Suigetsu right next to him.

"We were going to wait until you got back, but…" Jugo nodded his head to a rental car further back that they took to get here. I handed Jugo back his keys as he pointed me to the crowd. "She's somewhere in there looking for you." I nodded and turned back to the crowd, searching for any signs of pink. I caught a flash of it and walked towards it.

She was nervously chewing on her fingernails and tapping her feet impatiently, telltale signs of someone worrying.

"Did you see Sasuke Uchiha come out from there?" I heard her ask the agents and police officers holding the crowd back. I watched in amusement as she pestered them for my whereabouts, but I had to step in when she grabbed one agents by the collar and shook the life out of the poor guy. I picked her up and carried her away from the crowd. She didn't come quietly, though, she was kicking and screaming as I carried her past Jugo and Suigetsu, who were trying their best to contain laughter.

"Let me go, asshole!" Sakura yelled over and over. "I have to see Sasuke Uchiha! LET ME GO!" I let her down and faced her.

"You couldn't wait until I got back? Annoying and impatient," I said.

Her mouth opened slightly before turning into a smile as she threw her whole body onto me, wrapping her arms around my neck and clinging on to me.

"Why do you love worrying me all the time?" She said, her face buried on my shoulder.

"I make your life interesting." She laughed and leaned off of my shoulder so that she was looking at me right in the face. I leaned my forehead against hers and looked into her eyes.

Some people say that if two people have a strong connection, they can convey everything they feel through just their eyes, as in you can see how a person feels about you just by looking into their eyes. See I used to think all that was bullshit that people made up, but then I met her. And everything that I thought was lies was actually the truth.

Why? Because when I looked into those emerald eyes, every time I lost myself in them, I saw every emotion she was conveying. The strongest one? Love, easy. I always mirrored her feelings with mine, she knew how I felt, hell she knows what I'm thinking most of the time. They say that if your girl doesn't make you a better person, than you shouldn't be with her.

Did she make me a better person?

Do I really need to answer that?

"I told you I wasn't going to die, annoying girl."

"Doesn't mean I won't worry, you dick."

"I love it when you talk dirty, Sa-ku-ra."

"Shut up."

"Why are your cheeks red? You don't have a fever, do you?"

"Ok, let me go now, I hate you."

"Uh-huh." She leaned in and kissed me, making me lose my train of thought. "We should probably get back to the hotel," I murmured against her lips, sensing some of the crowd turning their attention to us.

She pouted when I let her go and shot a dirty look to the crowd. I chuckled and quickly drove out of the place in the rental while Jugo and Suigetsu followed. We quickly went towards the hotel, where we would pack our stuff and probably leave right away.

"We'll probably have to hitch a ride with Jugo, since my car was blown up," I told her.

"Rest in peace, Camaro, we love you," she said to the heavens. I laughed at her antics before pulling into the hotel's parking lot and turning off the car. We walked inside the hotel and grabbed all of our stuff, including all the free shampoos and conditioners, because free stuff is the best stuff. Jugo and Suigetsu were already done packing, so they waited for us by the car while we grabbed our stuff. We dropped our bags into Jugo's trunk, only for him to turn around and address us as we hopped into the backseat.

"We have to check in one last time at the station, all agents are required to go," he said. I mentally groaned and threw my head back against the headrest. All I wanted was to go home and sleep, you'd think taking the #6 guy on the FBI's Most Wanted would warrant you some naptime.

"Stop complaining, they're probably going to give you a hero's welcome or something," Suigetsu told me, attempting to make the notion of making one last stop more tempting.

"You know how much I hate that stuff," I muttered gloomily, "Well hurry up, sooner we get there, sooner we can leave." Jugo sped off towards the Fort Myers police station at my words. I stared out the window, looking at all the random stalls and stores that were set up, Fort Myers was the true definition of a tourist hotspot. But then I saw something strange. When Jugo stopped at a traffic light, my eyes met another man's eyes.

His most striking feature was his red hair, a lighter color than Gaara's, and from his face, he looked to be in his early 20s. He looked right at me, and when the light turned green and Jugo stepped on the accelerator, I could've sworn I saw him wave to me.

"The fuck?" I thought to myself, that was either a crazy man...or a man who knew who I was. I shook it off though, if he did know who I was, then I'll meet him soon. We arrived at the station and quickly went down to the cafeteria, where all the agents applauded when I walked in.

"Congratulations, Sasuke," Gaara told me. "Thanks," I muttered back before being barraged with a bunch of other questions from some other agents. I tuned them out and shouldered my way through the crowd to where Sakura was, but a booming voice prevented me from doing so.

"SASUKE UCHIHA!"

It was the person who had announced the shift schedule, I didn't know his name, he wasn't that important. Everyone went silent as the man addressed me.

"Deidara will only speak to you," he told me, and immediately all eyes shifted to me. I walked through the crowd and followed the man to where they kept Deidara, a standard interrogation room. The man motioned me inside and closed the door behind me, leaving me and a blonde sadist, only restrained by a pair of handcuffs.

"So you came, hm," he said to me, staring at me with a smirk on his face.

"Apparently you'll only talk to me, you got a crush or something?"

"Don't get cocky, Sasuke, this is just the tip of the iceberg," he told me.

"Are you saying you're going to attempt an escape? Not a wise move, Deidara."

"As I said, don't get cocky."

"Why not? I'm not the one with handcuffs on my wrists."

"Do you think I was it? That we wouldn't send anyone else? Typical FBI fool, hm."

"We? Who's we?"

"I forget how poorly informed the FBI is about everything, forgive me. I mean the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?"

"Surely you've heard of how I've been associated with a...special group of people, hm?"

"There was something about it on your file, so the Akatsuki is the group you operate with?"

"Yes," he confirmed while leaning back onto his seat, a smirk covering his features.

"So who will they send next?"

"Do your job, Uchiha, I've told you all you needed to know, at least all that I was instructed to."

"Instructed by who?"

"No one, merely a shadow. Maybe you'll meet him soon, Sasuke."

"Don't be a dick."

"It''ll all work out, don't you worry about a thing my dear Sasuke. Oh, and one more thing. This whole ordeal is personal, so if the FBI or any other organization gets involved, there will be very dire consequences."

"Such as?"

"Chemical weapons designed to infect entire cities leading to thousands of innocents dying, doesn't it sound fun?"

"So its Sasuke vs the Akatsuki."

"Precisely."

"I see. I'm assuming that's all you have to say to me."

"Correct, I really don't care what happens after this, I'm just a messenger, really, the real horrors will find you in time, and when they're done tormenting your body and your mind, you're whole 'badass' facade will be no more. You'll just be another bloodied corpse on the street, that is all I have to say."

I got up to leave, but not before leaning over the table so I could look the bastard in the eyes one more time.

"Send your horrors, I look forward to meeting them," I whispered to him. But as I walked away, I caught his last words to me.

"Your girl won't be as keen," he sneered. I whipped my head around and glared at the maniac before shutting the door and walking away. I couldn't see his face anymore, but I had a feeling that he was still smirking while handcuffed to that table, he thinks that even in being caught that he's played his part, but he's just like every other psychopath. They just don't know when reality ends and false illusions begin. In his case, rather the Akatsuki's, they believe that they can scare me, intimidate me, but I've gone through terrible things in life.

My whole life has been one whole trial by fire, the Akatsuki don't have a chance in hell at taking me out, that was for sure.

 **Finals are done and I'm back on this story. Sorry for the wait!**


	17. Lost and Found

The drive home was quiet, mostly because everyone in the car except for Jugo had fallen asleep, exhausted from the past few days of hunting Deidara. I was no exception, even though I was supposed to take the second shift from Jugo. When I had woken up and we were in Jacksonville, Jugo had said that he didn't want to wake me from my 'peaceful slumber' and just drove the whole way. I couldn't be mad, even though I was annoyed that he didn't wake me so that he himself could get some sleep.

"Stop being so considerate, asshole," I had said to him when he dropped me and Sakura off at our building. He responded with a smile before waving to Sakura and I as he left the complex. I quickly turned to head back inside into the building with Sakura while heaving my bag along with me. I made my way inside my apartment and went to turn around and say bye to Sakura only for her to walk past me and throw her bags aside while collapsing onto the couch.

"Yes, Sakura, you can come in," I muttered.

"Mhm," she let out a muffled sound, her face buried in a pillow. I unpacked my bags and opened a beer while Sakura murmured something unintelligible to me.

"Mmf mllw nlls lk o," she said.

"What?"

"Mmf mmlw nlls lk o."

"Speak english, dumbass."

"I said," she cupped her hands around her mouth, "THIS PILLOW SMELLS LIKE YOU!"

"Shut up!" I hissed, "people are sleeping!" She giggled as I made my way over to her with a scowl on my face. "And obviously it would smell like me, I live here, stupid," I told her.

"You smell like coffee!" She exclaimed, as if I hadn't just informed her that people were trying to rest. I sighed, resigning to the fact that she would do everything in her power to tick me off. But when I set my bottle down and turned on the TV, I didn't expect her to move and climb onto my lap, her warm breath tickling my ear as she leaned in.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she whispered, "let me make it up to you." My breath caught in my throat and I almost shuddered with anticipation. She moved her mouth away from my ear, brushing my jawline before ghosting over my lips, backing away with a smirk on her mouth. She yelped when I flipped her onto her back and hovered over her, gazing into her eyes before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her throat.

"Don't tease, Sa-ku-ra," I whispered while less than an inch away from her inviting lips. Now her breath was caught in her throat, and I wasn't about to waste any more time. It had been too long since the last time, and unfortunately, it would have to be a little longer as my phone rang. I sighed and got up, annoyed that someone had to interrupt. Hinata's name flash across the screen. Why was she calling me at this time?

"Hello?" I inquired.

"Sasuke!" I could tell from the urgency in her voice that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?"

"It's Naruto! We were all at a club, me, Ino, Naruto, and Neji, and he was drinking a lot. We told him to stop but he wouldn't, now we can't find him!"

"Calm down, Hinata, I'm sure he just went home with a girl or something-"

"But he left his phone here!" That was odd, Naruto usually never got this drunk, and when he did he always kept his phone with him, just in case.

"Ok, where are you?"

"Midnight Ocean. Hurry!" I swiftly got up and Sakura rose with me.

"What is it?"

"Naruto went missing somewhere, I'll go find him, don't worry."

"I'm coming," she told me.

"You sure you don't want some rest?"

"I'll sleep when we get back."

"Then let's go." We walked out and the realization hit me as I walked down the stairs.

I didn't have a car.

"Shit!" I cursed.

"I'll go get my keys," she said, sensing the source of my distress.

"I'll wait in the garage," I called to her as she ran upstairs. In a minute, we were sitting in her car, speeding towards the club.

"Here," I told her, pointing to the run-down nightclub with an almost full parking lot.

Run-down, but still doing well.

We pulled in and parked as I noticed Neji at the entrance.

"I didn't see him go with anyone, but he went this way and disappeared last I saw," he explained as Sakura and I closed in on them. I nodded and went down the street to where Neji pointed. Sakura and Neji, along with Ino and Hinata, followed closely behind as I fastwalked down the street. When we got to the end of the street, we saw the road split into two.

"Sakura, you and Neji take the other way," I instructed before motioning Ino and Hinata behind me. I knew Sakura and Neji could take care of themselves, but Ino and Hinata were a different story, both of them were panicking and I felt better taking them with me rather than leaving them out of my sight.

"Sasuke, is he ok?" Hinata asked me, the panic evident in her quiet voice.

"Don't worry so much, Hinata, he'll be fine, you'll see," I responded calmly, though I was a little worried myself. Most of me thought that Naruto had gotten wasted and went home with a girl, but there was a small part of me that was worried that he hadn't.

Why couldn't he had just taken his phone?

Why must be so idiotic sometimes?

These were questions I would ask him once I found him, the prick. It had been 5 minutes since we started walking, and we were getting nowhere following this road. Sakura texted me that they were having the same amount of success as us.

"Sasuke, this isn't like him to disappear," Ino told me.

"I know, but we'll find him," I reassured, but I found the concern inside me building for my best friend, why did he get so drunk in the first place? As we rounded the corner of Elk Street, I heard something that made my blood run cold.

"Get off me!" It was unmistakably Naruto's voice, slurred yet still loud as ever.

"Naruto!" Hinata breathed out, half-worried and half-relieved. Ino went to walk to where his voice came from, but I held an arm out, signaling her to stay put. I walked towards where I heard Naruto, and stopped when I heard a couple of other voices speak up.

"Sorry, detective," they sneered.

"Get off, asshole!" Naruto yelled, but I could hear a little fear creep into his voice. There must've been a good amount of people since Naruto doesn't get scared easily.

"You put Jordan in jail, you bastard, time you were dealt a little payback," one of them said. It must've been recent because I don't remember arresting anyone named Jordan when Naruto and I were partners.

"You guys are idiots if you thought assaulting a police detective was a good idea," Naruto told them.

"Ain't no cameras here, and by the time we're done with you, you'll wake up in a hospital, not remembering a thing," one of them told Naruto. Sounded like they were about to start beating the blonde up, and I couldn't allow that.

"Hinata! Tell Neji and Sakura to come to Elk Street, now," I told the blue-haired girl before leaping over the fence that separated us and the alleyway Naruto was. I saw Naruto backed against the wall, but still in a fighting stance, regardless, Naruto wouldn't go down without a fight. He was bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow and his cheek was swollen but his face still held a defiant look. There were 4 guys, all average-sized men, but 1 of them held a knife, presumably to cut Naruto up. He noticed me stalking towards them and immediately that shit-eating grin covered his face like clockwork.

"The hell are you smiling at-" one of them started before turning to see me. His eyes widened but returned to normal after a brief second.

"2 against 4, I'm still liking those odds," the one with the knife said, turning towards me. I smirked when he did that and kept stalking towards them, a dark look canvassing my face while Naruto took the opportunity to get out of the way and stand next to me. I could just flash my badge at them, it could be over with them just seeing my badge, but that's no fun. Plus, its been awhile since Naruto and I have gotten to fight together, I kind of missed kicking ass with him. I glanced over to him, noticing the red tint on his cheeks. Naruto had alcohol in his system alright, but judging from his stance and the look in his eyes, his fighting wouldn't be affected. He looked over to me and grinned real wide while I smirked back.

This was going to be fun.

All four of them converged on us at the same time aiming to incapacitate us in one go, but we were ready. I tripped one and caught the arm of the one with the knife before kicking his legs out from under him. Naruto shoved one down before clocking the other in the face, planting him on his ass. The one Naruto shoved got up and swung at Naruto, who ducked out of the way. I grabbed the man from behind and lifted him over my head before slamming him down onto the man I had tripped. Naruto kicked the man with the knife away before grabbing the man he had clocked and kicking him down to his knees. Naruto held him in place while I swiftly broke his jaw with a knee. The man with the knife slowly stood up, dazed and confused. Naruto and I shared an amused glance before punching him at the same time, putting him to the ground.

"Whoa," I heard Ino say from behind me

"I m-missed d-doing t-that!" Naruto hiccuped before staggering.

The alcohol was definitely starting to hit him now.

I shook my head at him before taking his arm and flinging it over my shoulder, supporting him as we walked back to the fence. Hinata sighed in relief when she saw him draped over my shoulder, Naruto really had worried her. I lifted him up and sort of threw him over the fence, drawing a shriek from Ino and a yelp from Hinata, almost making me chuckle. He landed on his ass, so he was fine, but their reactions were pretty funny. He groaned as he got up, still somewhat in control of his senses, but he was talking with no holds barred, like really talking.

"Ino you're pretty!" He slurred out.

"Hinata, you've always been cute!" She turned bright red the moment he said that and hid her face in her hands.

"Sasuke! Help me up so I can kiss them!" He almost yelled.

"Ok, you really need to shut up now," I told him, suppressing a chuckle. Hinata looked like she was about to faint and Ino just looked plain annoyed.

"Sasuke, I am drunk!"

"I know."

"Drunk means I drank alcohol!"

"I know."

"But alcohol gets you drunk!"

"I know."

"Why did I drink alcohol?"

"I don't know."

I sighed as he began to stumble around, trying to figure out why he had drank so much, mumbling incoherently and confusing the hell out of the two girls who were watching him. I had seen Naruto drunk like this a lot of times before, so I was used to all of his antics, in fact, we used to get wasted every time we solved a case back in my PD days. Ino and Hinata just stared at him, mouths agape, not used to seeing the blonde idiot in this state.

"We should start walking back," I said, grabbing Naruto and dragging him along as we walked back the way we came. Sakura and Neji became visible to us after a minute of walking and Ino waved to them, letting them know that we had secured Naruto and all was well. I could see Sakura breath a sigh of relief, even from where I was standing, and smirked. Eventually, we met up with them and explained what had happened with Naruto and that little band of goons that tried to assault him. Ino also vividly described how we beat them half to death and left them all unconscious in an alley as well.

"Dumbass, don't wander off on your own again," Neji scolded.

"Seriously, Naruto, you had all of us worried," Sakura told him.

"I'm sorry!" He yelled out before staring at Sakura. "You're pretty! Can I kiss you?"

"Um, no," she responded, backing away a little in case Naruto tried something.

He did.

He took his arm off of my shoulder and leaned in, only to be punched right in the stomach.

By me.

"Dumbass," I muttered, ignoring the surprised stares from everyone except Sakura, who was trying her best not to laugh at what I had just done.

"Sasuke! Why did you hit me?"

"You tried to kiss Sakura, dumbass."

"Oh yeah, I forgot she was your girlfriend!" I should've killed him right there and then. My cheeks burned with a blush and Sakura's did as well as we both glared at Naruto. Nobody else knew what we were and they certainly didn't need to find out from a drunk idiot.

"I'm going to murder you, slowly," I whispered into his ear, causing him to shudder before he shut up. The topic wasn't brought up on our walk back to the Midnight Ocean thankfully, saving me and Sakura any further awkwardness. I threw Naruto into the backseat of Sakura's car and climbed into the passenger seat while giving Hinata, Ino, and Neji a quick 2-finger salute. Sakura drove out of the club and we returned to our building a little bit later with Naruto passed out and snoring very loudly.

"Does he get like this often?" Sakura asked as I lifted Naruto out of the car and over my shoulder while he rested.

"You'd be surprised," I answered while walking up the stairs to the third floor. I told her about the dumb shit Naruto did when he was drunk out of his mind, which included streaking across Midway Avenue and vomiting all over some girl he was trying to hook up with until we got to my apartment. I reached into Naruto's pocket and pulled out the keys to his place, unlocking the door and dumping him on the bed before exiting and returning to my own apartment with Sakura.

"You guys have such a bromance, its adorable," she teased.

"Shut up," I muttered.

"What? I'm just saying you guys make a cute couple," she told me while sitting down on my bed. I pouted at her, drawing a giggle from the pinkette. I threw off my shirt and climbed under the covers of my precious bed. She climbed in next to me and moved closer to my body, laying her head on my chest while I threw an arm over her, holding her there. And just like that, we were asleep, ready to tackle work the next day.


	18. I'll Never Leave

**Lemons Ahead!**

"Sasuke, get up," I heard Sakura tell me as she shook me awake. I blinked the rogue hairs from my head out of my vision and sat up while yawning. I glanced at Sakura, who was dressed and ready.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"7:30," she answered while dragging me out of bed. I growled at her before noticing her eyes wandering over my shirtless body.

"Don't stare, Sa-ku-ra, we have to go to work," I cooed.

"Hurry up and shower!" She yelled as she threw a towel at my face. I caught it and smirked at her before getting ready quickly since I was already late. I got out at 7:40 and neglected my breakfast, opting to slip on some clothes and walk down to the car, or at least that's what I thought I was doing until Sakura stopped me.

"I have to get something from my apartment, hang on," she said. I patiently waited for her to come back down, and in a minute she was back, holding out something wrapped in paper to me. "Eat in the car," she told me, and I immediately knew that it was one of her homemade bagels.

"Oh yes," I breathed out to the heavens, silently thanking them for this gift that was bestowed upon me.

"So dramatic," she giggled before leading me downstairs. I happily munched on the bagel before we even reached her car, satisfying my taste buds to the fullest extent. It may have just been some dough with cream cheese on it, but it just tasted so damn good. I sat down in the passenger seat of her car and quickly finished off my breakfast as we sped to work.

"So yesterday was fun," Sakura said.

"Yeah, I always love nights like those," I answered sarcastically.

"You must love it when Naruto gets stupid drunk."

"Oh it truly is a joy. Ever since getting into college there have been random nights that he just goes all out and drinks anything in sight, its just a thing he does."

"Oh, and speaking of Naruto, how does he know we're together?"

"I mean...he doesn't really know that we are but he caught onto what happened the night of your birthday. He knew that I had feelings for you and actually lectured me on admitting them to you," I chuckled out the last part, finding that last part to be quite odd.

"Naruto lectured you? Never thought it was possible," she replied.

"Not like its going to happen again."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Whatever you say," she said in a mocking tone. I narrowed my eyes at her in response.

"Don't mock me, woman."

"I wasn't mocking you," she answered innocently.

"You're still doing it."

"Am I? Sorry about that, Sasuke." I growled at her teasing tone, causing her to grin as she pulled into the parking lot.

"How much you wanna bet that we're doing paperwork today?" Sakura asked.

"Can we stay in the car, then?"

"Stop being a child, Sasuke."

"Please?" She parked the car and turned the engine off before opening her door. She walked around the car and opened my door, a teasing grin painted on her face. I pouted as she held out her hand expectantly. I reluctantly took it and grumbled all the way out. We walked inside, hands still linked, and made our way to the elevator.

"Good mor-" the receptionist began before openly gaping at our joined hands.

"Morning," Sakura chimed while I rolled my eyes at the receptionist's reaction. She stared at the both of us until the elevator door closed, not believing the sight we had presented her with. I scoffed when the doors shut, gaining Sakura's attention.

"She made it seem like we were aliens or something," I muttered.

"Oh stop it, she just didn't think you would ever hold hands with a girl."

"Hn." She leaned up and pressed a tender kiss onto my lips before backing off when the elevator doors opened. I smirked at her before making my way over to our conjoined desks, and surely enough, there was a stack of paper waiting to be filled out, signed, and stamped.

"What the hell is a bigshot like Sasuke Uchiha doing here?" Suigetsu asked as he walked over to our desks.

"Shut up," I retorted, taking a seat and glaring at the stack of paper, hoping my gaze would set it on fire.

"Hey, Sakura," Suigetsu called to her. The way he said it was odd, like he was scared she would attack him or something. "You wanna get dinner with me sometime?" He asked Sakura.

I almost jumped over my desk and punched right there, but I kept my composure as nonchalant as possible.

"Oh um, well I'm kinda busy-"

"She's taken, Suigetsu," I finished for her.

"Really? Uh, by who?"

"Me."

"Um, what?"

"Did I stutter?"

"No, uh, I just didn't think-you know what, nevermind," the cerulean-haired man said as he walked away looking utterly confused and kind of scared.

"Did you have to be so mean?"

"I just didn't want him to have any false hopes."

"Still, you didn't have to be so blunt about it."

"Hn." She smirked over at me, capturing me in her viridian gaze.

"So, I'm yours, am I?"

"Damn right you are." She giggled prettily at my answer before grabbing a piece of her paperwork.

"Get to work, Sasuke," she told me. I scoffed and returned to my own work. Some of my papers were some details I needed to sign regarding the arrest of Deidara, or "The Blonde Bomber" as the newspapers called him.

Was I required to use any force?

Obviously.

How did the location of our exchange sustain so much damage?

He fucking bombed it.

Was I threatened in any way?

No shit.

I swear whoever made this little questionnaire was going to wake up with a knife jammed in his or her throat. Sakura and I both had made it to the middle of our stacks when my phone rang. I saw Shisui's name flash across the screen so I picked up.

"Shisui?"

"I'm watching the news, are you ok?"

"Why?"

"They're talking about you arresting this Deidara character who has hundreds of confirmed kills on his resume. So are you ok?"

"I'm fine, got out of there with only some scratches." "That's a relief. Anything else going on?" "No, I'm just working, why?"

"Well I-, you know what forget it, I'll leave you to it, stay safe."

"I will, bye Shisui."

"Bye."

It was a short conversation, but I was glad that he at least called. Having him sort of back in my life wasn't a bad thing by any means, it meant that I had another person that I could hopefully trust.

"Who's Shisui?" Sakura inquired.

"He was my brother's best friend before my brother had to...leave."

"Oh, sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"I know how hard talking about your brother is."

"Its fine, Sakura, I'm not gonna attack you. Probably."

"Hilarious, Sasuke."

I just smirked at her as she smiled widely at me, eyes glimmering with warmth that made my stomach turn over before returning to her work. I went back to my own stack of paper before a text message popped into my phone. Naruto wanted to meet up for lunch in a bit.

"The idiot wants to have lunch, wanna come?"

"Ok," she answered, not looking up from her work. After a half hour, we had gone through most of our respective stacks and the time was about 1:00.

"Let's go," I beckoned. We took the elevator down and went to her car.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Bird's Cafe." She nodded and reversed the car before turning back to me. "That's where we first met," she said.

"It is."

"When you didn't tell me who you were and I had to go back to the office and tell Ibiki that I couldn't find you."

"Yep."

"Asshole."

"Such a foul mouth for such a pretty face."

"And I'm the annoying one."

"You are."

"I will pull over and kill you with my bare hands."

"That's illegal, Sakura."

"I hate you."

"You don't."

"Why are you so annoying?"

"That's my line."

"I'm going to stop talking to you now."

"That's fine, you can just listen to me."

"You're supposed to be quiet and stoic."

"Things change."

"That they do."

"Its right here."

"I can see, Sasuke!"

"Just making sure." I gave her an amused smirk as she parked to which she answered with a playful glare. I leaned over the elbow rest and planted a soft kiss on her lips before getting out and walking into the cafe.

"I hate it when you tease like that," she pouted as she made her way behind me.

"That's why I love doing it."

"Fucking dick."

"Careful with your choice of words, Sakura." I smirked as she grew red and walked past me to where Naruto was.

"Hey, Sasuke! Hi, Sakura!"

"Hey Naruto," Sakura greeted as we took a seat in the booth with the blonde.

"So, like, about last night…" he began, but trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

"It's fine, Naruto," Sakura told him with an amused smile covering her face.

"Thanks, Sakura, I knew you would understand!" The blonde responded with a trademark grin on his face.

"Idiot," I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

"Don't you dare! After all the shit we pulled in high school and college I expect you to always come looking for me!"

"Whatever, idiot."

"And what did you guys do in college?" Sakura asked, turning to me with a smirk on her face.

"Nothing," I answered way too quickly. She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, even more amused with my response.

"One time we stole a police dog!" Naruto barked.

"Really?" Sakura's smirk remained on her face as she crossed her arms right under her chest. I felt my pants tighten and immediately looked away while concealing my situation. I hate it when she does that, its like she doesn't even know the effect she has on me.

"Sasuke found it wandering without an officer and the dog kept following him around. Eventually, we took it back to our dorm room, but the RA heard barking and tried to take it away."

"Oh, Sasuke," Sakura sighed teasingly.

"You should've seen it! The guy came in and got one of Sasuke's glares so he just turned and left," Naruto finished, chuckling loudly and obnoxiously.

"So what did you do with it?" Sakura asked.

"Took it back to the station," I answered.

"So noble," Sakura teased.

"Annoying," I shot back

"So you two really are together," Naruto mused, silencing our teasing. We both blushed and caught each other's gaze. "Yep, definitely together," Naruto repeated.

"I was going to tell you, but Deidara happened and well...I don't know," I told him honestly.

"At least you listened to me," Naruto said, smiling slightly.

"He did," Sakura answered for me, shooting me a bright smile before turning back to Naruto and conversing with him a little. I listened to Naruto detail the dog story to Sakura, which ended up taking the rest of our respective lunch breaks. It was almost 2 when I finished my coffee and sandwich, so Sakura bid Naruto farewell and went to go start the car.

"She really is something, isn't she?" Naruto thought aloud.

"Yeah," I agreed, watching her receding form.

"You're fucking lucky, Sasuke, don't mess it up with her."

"I'm trying my best."

I was, that wasn't a lie.

A moment of silence passed until Naruto looked at me with a mischievous grin.

"So have you guys like...you know," he said, dropping the most awkward question in front of me.

"Naruto…" I hissed through gritted teeth, but I could feel my face burning up.

"Oh wow, you guys are quick! You're so lucky!"

"You have 10 seconds before I take this fork and shove it up your-"

"Ok, I'm sorry! You don't have to get graphic!" I growled in response before leaving the small cafe and Naruto, who was trying to conceal his laughter like a child, hand over his mouth and all. I hopped into the car and glared at Naruto's grinning face one last time before Sakura pulled out of the cafe.

"What' got you so mad at him?" She asked.

"Nothing."

"Come on, don't be like that."

"Seriously, you don't want to know."

"Oh."

"Oh," I replied, mocking her voice.

"One day I'm going to kill you."

"You can try."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe." She flashed a quick smirk at me before returning her attention to the road.

"Side note, is your insurance paying for a new car?"

"I called them once already, they said the FBI had already contacted them."

"Wait, the FBI called your insurance for you? Why does an asshole like you get special treatment?"

"It's called catching the #6 Most Wanted man on the FBI's list."

"Cocky dumbass."

"That's sweet."

"Ugh, you're impossible." She pulled into the parking lot a minute later, and just like that, we were back to what we were doing before: reading, signing, stamping. For a couple more hours, our work consisted of entirely that, only after the clock hit 4 PM were we free for the day.

Our apartment building suddenly seemed like heaven after the torturous day of work. I wanted a case, I hated filling out senseless papers for hours, and Ibiki knew it too. I walked to my apartment while Sakura followed behind me.

"I'm gonna go get some things, I'll come down in like, 10 minutes," she told me before disappearing up the staircase. I walked inside my place and crashed on the couch before grabbing the remote. I adjusted myself so that I was laying on my side while flipping through channels, trying to see if anything watchable was on. Thankfully, Friends was on, so I had something to relax to while waiting for Sakura. Sure enough, she came knocking on my door 10 minutes later, presumably with whatever items she had to go get. I opened the door and watched her throw a small bag onto my dining table.

"Rude," I muttered. She stuck her tongue out at me before jumping onto the couch, where I just was.

"I love Friends!" She exclaimed, her face lighting up with a smile.

"Course you do." I sat next to her and we proceeded to watch for the next hour, not moving once, eyes glued to the TV screen. Funny how attached we can get to a show, but after an hour of inhaling her scent, of feeling her warmth emanate next to me, I could feel myself losing control, and when she looked me in the eye, I knew the feeling was mutual. So when we met each other's lips fervently and the feeling of pure desire coated my mind, it didn't shock me. It spurred me into action. I hovered over her, tasting her lips over and over, that sweet, intoxicating taste, more addicting than alcohol I ever knew. It had been too damn long since I was able to touch her like this, too long since I was able to feel her, and it was oh so evident from the way we were going at each other, like two long lost lovers, really.

She grasped my shirt and forced my lips harder onto hers, moaning into my mouth as my tongue forked out, exploring her cavern eagerly, memorizing every little detail about it. Her hands raked through my hair, massaging the scalp and tousling it, messing up my already messy hair. My hands went to her pants, quickly removing them and tossing them aside revealing red undergarments, causing my pants to tighten around my waist.

"Naughty," I breathed out, and smirked when her lips turned upwards. She tugged at the hem of my shirt and I pulled away briefly, allowing her to remove it from my body while I eyed her own shirt. She knew exactly what I was thinking and smiled mischievously. Her face was flustered and she was out of breath as I removed her top before removing her bra as well. All that she had on was the necklace I had given her on her birthday.

All I could think was that she was the most beautiful girl I ever had the pleasure of seeing in my life. I might've said that before, I might've thought it so many times that it seemed repetitive, but what else was there to say? There was nothing, no adjective in the dictionary to describe her, so I just went with beautiful because it was the closest thing. From her eyes to, well, everything else, she was truly perfect.

Her hands gripped my pants, unbuttoning them all while we stared at each other, her evergreen pools arresting my mind.

"Sasuke, she breathed while I removed all of my restraints, "I need you."

And just like that, I had positioned myself on top of her, ready to take her body. She ran her thumb across my cheek as I traced her slit with my hard member. She moaned lightly at the contact before meeting my eyes for another second.

It was silent, the calm before the storm.

I plunged into her, fast and hard, and she moaned rather loudly.

I prayed that Naruto wasn't home, otherwise I would never hear the end of it. Then again, I could just bring up the fact that she denied him twice, so on the other hand, it didn't really matter.

I went in again and again, soaked with her fluids each time. She was moaning and gasping, so I silenced her with my own mouth, absorbing all of her passionate sounds and adding some of my own. My pace was relentless, I refused to go slower, my mind was so clouded with lust and desire that I couldn't tease or be gentle, I just didn't have the control. She tried to match my pace, but her efforts were fruitless. She began to moan quicker and her hands tightened on my shoulder blades, nails digging into my flesh. I growled as I began to move faster, shaking the couch and sending her into her blissful release.

"Sasuke!" She almost screamed. I absorbed her pleasured sounds, taking them into my body as her walls tightened around my member. I grunted at the newfound tightness and thrusted a couple of more time before finding my own release, emptying my white seed into her. We each gasped for breath, desperately trying to regain our oxygen supplies. She closed her eyes as her hands fell from around me and onto her sides. I might've completely tired her out from the way her breathing remained fast and how she wiped sweat from her brow. We were so out of it that I barely registered the knock on the door.

"Hey, um, my name is Carl and I was wondering if you guys could keep it down? You guys were going at it for like a really long time and I'm pretty sure most of our hall can hear you guys," the man said from behind the door.

That's when both of our faces turned bright red.

"Uh, we'll try, sorry about that," I answered.

"Ok, um, thanks." We heard Carl's footsteps recede down the hallway, signaling that we were all clear. Sakura burst out laughing while I tried and failed to hold in my own laughter.

"Oh my god, are you really that loud, Sasuke?"

"Me?! You're the one who can't stop moaning and screaming my name."

"I do not!"

"Oh yeah? Let me go ask Carl, then."

"Ok, fine! Maybe I do that a little…" She blushed immediately at the admission.

"A little, she says," I mocked with a smirk on my face, causing her to blush even more.

"So how do we keep quiet?" She asked.

"We'll figure something out." A couple of moments of silence than passed before she spoke again.

"Let's go figure it out, then," She said, and her lips came descending onto mine. I lifted her up and transported her to the bed while kicking the door shut. When we met the bed, her back turned to my chest, and I immediately knew how she wanted it. She turned her neck and pressed a kiss to my lips while slowly grinding on me, arousing me for a second time. I positioned my member and pressed another kiss to her lips before invading her body from behind. She moaned mutely, but when I went in a second time, she gasped and almost fell. I secured her against me using an arm and feathered her neck with light kisses while going in again.

This time, she moaned, and I used my free hand to clamp over her mouth before going in again and again, showing that relentless pace from before. Her muffled moans filled the air coupled with an occasional grunt or groan from me that I couldn't hold in. The sound of her ass hitting my thighs resounded through the room, I had to admit it was a satisfying sound.

I nipped at her neck continuously, causing red marks to form. She gasped when I hit that sweet spot and caused her to arch against me. Every reaction from her fueled my drive so much more. Each thrust was harder. Faster. But it did the same thing to her as well. She began to match my thrusts with her own, making the impact all the more sweeter.

"Sasuke!" She gasped when my hand slipped from her mouth, but I didn't care anymore, the more noise, the better. My free hand covered her left breast and caressed it while her hand covered mine and the other pulled my face into a kiss. I groaned as she lightly bit down on my bottom lip and tugged. I responded by quickening my pace while capturing her lips again, absorbing most of her moans and gasps so that the neighbors wouldn't get mad at us. My grip on her slackened, and she fell onto her arms while I drove my member inside of her.

"Ah!" She cried out, and once again, she came. I grunted as I finished inside her, filling her with my essence for a second time. We collapsed next to each other, breathing hard and completely worn out, pretty much exhausted.

"Fuck," she breathed out and I felt my lips quirk upwards in a small smirk, satisfied that she was as spent as I was.

"We should probably wash up," Sakura said while blushing.

"You go first," I told her.

"Too tired to move?" She grinned as she teased.

"You wish," I mumbled while watching her get up and grab her things before going into my bathroom. I rested my head on my arms and just stared at the ceiling while she showered, trying to think of something other than her body.

My mind went to what Deidara said. I knew he was trying scare me, trying to make me paranoid, but I knew that everything he said was a scare tactic. However, I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't. What if he wasn't trying to scare me, rather warn me of an impending storm? It was a small possibility, but if Deidara really was just the beginning, then I would have to be prepared. His group, the Akatsuki, seemed dangerous, butI'm not backing down, especially now that I have someone that I had to protect at all costs, the pinkette currently inhabiting my bathroom at the moment.

Call it corny, call it something out of romance novel, I don't care, I truly did love her, and there was nothing I wouldn't do to protect her. The only problem was, I didn't know who I was protecting her from and waiting had never been my strong suit.

Oh well, if they're trying to kill me, guess I'll meet them soon. Sakura walked out of the bathroom, hair dampened and dressed in a tank top and some really short shorts.

"Those are some nice shorts," I commented before closing the door of the bathroom and hopping into the shower. I emerged 5 minutes later, a freshened man. I threw on the first T-shirt from my closet and some basketball shorts before catching the aroma of something nice. I walked to the kitchen where I saw her cooking something on the stove.

"Rice and chicken, a classic," she said.

"Ah," I answered while walking towards her, observing the sizzling pan that contained a couple pieces of meat. I saw another pot with almost cooked rice in it, brown of course.

"It'll be a couple of minutes, so go watch TV or something," she told me.

"Hn," I grunted in response before reaching around her and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. I quickly grabbed some orange juice from my fridge and poured myself a glass before answering a call from Kakashi.

"What's up?" I greeted.

"Just checking up on you, kid."

"So I'm your last ditch attempt for entertainment?"

"Yessir."

"Nice."

"So what's up?"

"Nothing, about to eat dinner."

"Going out?"

"No, Sakura's cooking."

"Oh, I see."

"Why did you say it like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you were implying something."

"I would do no such thing."

"Of course not."

"Changing topics now. There's a drug war going on in Colombia."

"Another one?"

"Yeah, apparently the Ochoas had a dispute about territories for the Cocaine trade with the Blancos."

"Damn, any gunfights erupt so far?"

"One, 14 deaths in total, the DEA is stepping in, trying to control the situation."

"Tell them I said good luck."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it."

"This bears a strange resemblance to Narcos."

"A little too much."

"So how's Rin?"

"She's fine."

"Just fine?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, I just expected more than just fine."

"She's good to me, first girl I've dated in a while and its been surprisingly easy."

"How cute."

"Don't tease me, boy, I raised you."

"You can't hold that over me forever."

"Actually, I can."

"Fair enough."

"I gotta go, kid, I'm hungry and Taco Bell calls for me."

"Now I want some Taco Bell."

"Oh well, see ya."

"Bye." I hung up the phone, and as if on cue, Sakura brought a plate full of food for me. It was evenly proportioned, she knew exactly how I liked it, with a specific amount of everything so I got all of my nutrients.

Keeping this body in shape took work, unfortunately.

I grabbed a knife and fork and cut a piece of chicken off. I bit into the meat and savored the juicy tenderness of it. I had to admit that she made it better than I ever could.

"Still want Taco Bell?" She asked, feigning innocence.

"Shut up," I muttered as she sat down next to me with her own plate.

"So tell me how good it is," she asked.

"Terrible," I answered.

"That good, huh?"

I growled at her in response. She loved annoying me. The orange juice washed down the savory taste of meat and rice, giving me a combination of savory and sweet, an unbeatable combo. Couple that with the open window, allowing the Florida breeze to drift through my place, flowing through my hair and cooling the warm rice and chicken on my plate. I glanced at Sakura, who was studying me intently.

"What?"

"The wind really loves your hair," she chimed.

"Thanks," I muttered, blowing some of my stray hair out of my eyes.

"You look good with bangs," she said.

"Hn," I responded noncomittingly.

"I'm serious."

"I know, idiot."

"Don't you dare use Naruto's nickname on me."

"I'll stick to annoying then."

"That's an adjective, stupid, did you not go to school?"

"I swear, Sakura, I will literally break your arms."

"How charming!"

"One day, I'm going to kill you. It won't be today. It won't be tomorrow. But someday I will."

"But then who'll cook for you?"

"I'll live off of microwavables, damnit."

"Enjoy that."

"I will, you insufferable woman."

She grinned at my insult, to which I responded with a twitch of my eye. The rest of dinner consisted of me telling her what specific paperwork I had to fill out regarding Deidara's arrest as well as her telling me she had to fill out the expense report for our office so that we were reimbursed, including my car, so I wouldn't have to call the insurance company about. That saved me some time and energy because I was definitely didn't want to call them and detail my accident to them. She took my plate when we finished eating and we did the dishes together, finishing in a couple minutes so that we would have the rest of the night to ourselves. She settled on the couch while I shut the window, cutting off the wind and the cool air. Thankfully, A/C was a thing, so cold air was no problem. She immediately scooted closer to me when I took a seat, like usual, and we sat there watching an airing of a movie about gang wars.

Usually, I would be attentive to the TV, especially when something like gang warfare was on, but one of the characters in the movie reminded me of Deidara, trigger-happy and egotistical. It made me wonder if the Akatsuki would be like the characters in the movie. Some of them calm and collected, others driven by money, some by religion.

"Goddamn Akatsuki," I thought aloud without realizing.

"Hm?" Shit, she caught my slip up.

"Nothing, new brand of olive oil."

"Sasuke Uchiha, what is Akatsuki?"

"Olive oil."

"Stop! This isn't funny! Why do you always try to lie to me?"

Damn girl was guilt tripping me, and it fucking worked. I sighed heavily and turned to fully face her.

"You know how Deidara was affiliated with a mystery group?" She nodded.

"He told me their name, Akatsuki."

"And?"

"They may or may not be hunting me."

"Oh my god."

"Don't do that, stop worrying about me."

"What the fuck! There's a gang hunting you and I shouldn't worry?! Do you even hear yourself?"

"I know it sounds bad, Sakura but trust me, I won't let them kill me."

"But, Sasuke, this isn't that simple! We need to tell Ibiki and get you protection or something!"

"Sakura-"

"Sasuke, please," she gripped my face in her hands and I felt my resolve melt away, "for me."

I covered her hands with and took a deep breath, "Deidara told me if anyone else gets involved than thousands could die, Sakura, we can't tell anyone."

"What if he's just bluffing?"

"He's not."

"There has to be something we can do!" She yelled with tears forming in her eyes.

"All we can do is wait and see what their next move is." My answer didn't satisfy her, I could still see the unease in her eyes. "It's not the first time someone's tried to kill me, Sakura."

"That's not exactly comforting."

Silence filled the air for a minute as we sat there, unmoving like statues. A single tear ran down her cheek and fell onto the fabric of the sofa. Another one came after but I brushed it away gently with my thumb.

"Please don't leave me, Sasuke," She whispered softly. I gently stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead.

"Who said I was going anywhere?" I told her. She smiled slightly before enveloping me in a hug, squeezing so hard I thought she was trying to break my ribs.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight," she said.

"That's really not necessary."

"I don't care, I'm not leaving your side." I smiled at her declaration, feeling a rush of affection at her words,

"Then there's no need for me to worry."

"Don't forget my promise, if you die, I'll bring you back and kill you again," she told me. I laughed and held her tighter to me.

"Let's go get some sleep," I said.

"Sleep?" I smirked at her.

"You know what I mean." And we took to the bed to "sleep".


	19. Family

The sun shone through the window, signaling it was morning and time to get up. The sleeping pinkette in my arms had not yet stirred, probably still feeling the effects of our late night...activities. I carefully got up and checked my phone. 6:52, I was awake earlier than usual. I slipped on some boxers and walked to the kitchen while answering a text from Shikamaru. Since I was up early, I decided to make a luxurious breakfast item, fit for a king: pancakes. I grabbed the mix and a pan before getting to work, mixing ingredients and pouring the finished mix onto the pan to allow it to cook.

"Smells good," I heard a sleepy voice say from behind me. I turned and saw her dressed in my shirt, which was large enough so that she didn't have to wear anything else. Something about her in my clothes made my stomach flip and made my brain think dirty thoughts, but I set those aside since we had work in a little bit. She rubbed her eyes and yawned before wrapping her arms around my waist and leaning her head onto my back.

"You better not fall asleep," I said.

"Mm," she answered, probably paying my words no heed. I finished making a batch of pancakes and tossed them onto two plates. Sakura wouldn't let go of me until I picked her up and placed her onto the chair, much to her satisfaction. She grinned at me and I realized she had just used me for transportation, the cunning witch. I walked to the fridge and opened it only to freeze in horror at what I saw.

"No…" I whispered loud enough for her to hear.

"Sasuke?"

"No, no, no, no, no."

"What?" I turned to her, my face showing all the anguish I could express.

"We're out of syrup." She looked at me for a second before bursting out laughing, doubling over while keeping a hand on the counter so she wouldn't fall. I pouted at her form, visibly upset over our lack of syrup to complete our breakfast.

"This isn't funny, how are we going to eat them without syrup?"

"Just eat them plain, its not that big of a deal."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Its just pancakes, stop being a baby. Also, you hate sweet things."

"But its different with pancakes."

"How about I cut up a tomato and spread the slices on them?"

"Really?"

"Yes, you overgrown child."

She walked over to the fridge and pulled out a nice, red tomato. I went to the bathroom and quickly showered in 5 minutes before pulling on jeans and a navy blue shirt. When I got out, she had already put out the tomato slices and was eating her own pancakes. I slid into a chair and ate the combination she had made. A normal person would've thought it disgusting, but when you love tomatoes like I do, it can't be disgusting. I collected the plates and washed them while Sakura showered and came out wearing a red shirt and black leggings, flawless like usual. Except there was something that stood out, her neck.

Particularly, the marks my lips had left.

"Um, Sakura?" I pointed to them and she saw the marks in the mirror. When I looked with her, I noticed that I had two marks on my neck as well, which was a problem. "This is not good," she said.

"Hn." She quickly googled how to get rid of the hickeys that plagued us, finding some solutions.

"Ok, I can use my makeup to conceal it, as for you...try putting ice on it." I got a bunch of ice and wrapped it with paper towels before putting it on my neck. I hissed at the sudden intrusion of ice on my skin, but relaxed a couple moments later, hoping that this would work, otherwise, work would be rough. Jugo and Suigetsu already knew about us and I didn't particularly care what the other agents thought, but Ibiki had made a rule about workplace relationships and I didn't need him breathing down our necks if he found out. Hell, he might know already since the receptionist saw us holding hands. I kept the ice pressed to my neck all the way until we got down to Sakura's car, at which I removed it to see if it had any effect.

"Wait, if yours is concealed, then why do I have to hide mine? If someone asks I'll just say I was with a girl last night."

"But they've never seen a hickey on you before, so why would you have one now?"

"I'll just say she was biting my neck or something."

"They know its not your style."

"My style? What do you mean my style?"

"Sasuke...you have a reputation at the office when it comes to girls."

Oh no. Remember when Sakura first came into the FBI building and Suigetsu was talking about her? Remember when he said that I would just fuck her once and that would be it? That's the reputation she was talking about. I was known around the office because of a couple of girls there who I had...you know. They must've spilled all the details, and somehow, Sakura had found out. I couldn't meet her eyes, I was too ashamed, I didn't want to go back and think of my past regrets, and I certainly didn't want her to.

"I didn't want you to find out about that," I said regretfully. She took my free hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Stop your sulking, Uchiha." I looked her straight in the eyes and found what I was always looking for: warmth, comfort, any good feeling you can think of. She made me feel at peace, like I was 5 years old again, at home with my parents and Itachi. She was my home now. Wherever she was, that's where I felt comfortable.

"The past is the past, we can't change it, only look to the future," she told me.

"Since when did you become a poet?" She just grinned and started the car. The next minute was silence, until we stopped at a traffic light.

"Sakura," she turned when I said her name, "you're my present and future, remember that." She smiled and again our hands connected, fingers intertwining. We stayed like that the whole way to work, only letting go when we got out of the car. We walked inside and took the elevator as per usual, getting off on our floor and making our way over to our desks.

"Hey," Jugo called to us, motioning us over to him. Sakura and I shared a brief look before walking over to his desk.

"This is a new agent, Hiruko." The man Jugo presented had black hair, and a rough-looking face, as well as a bandana covering his mouth, similar to Kakashi, except Kakashi was nowhere near as ugly as this guy. He was short and gave off a weird vibe, something was off about this guy.

"Nice to meet you," Hiruko said, his voice rough and gravelly. Sakura shook his hand and offered a friendly smile, but I stood there, sizing him up. I usually always never trusted people I had just met, but this guy was different, I just had a feeling this guy was off.

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered while nudging me. I realized that this Hiruko was holding his hand out to me, waiting for me to shake it.

"Sasuke Uchiha," I said before turning my back and walking to my desk. Sakura followed and sat down across from me.

"I know how you are, Sasuke, but do you have to be such a dick to new recruits?"

"Hn."

"You're impossible."

"And you're annoying." She pouted and I smirked before starting on the day's work.

We finished the day normally and 4 o'clock came with no interruptions. Even the paperwork had been reasonable, though it didn't make doing it any easier. We were about to leave, but there was one more distraction to take care of before we could.

"Uchiha! Haruno!" Ibiki called, "get in here!" I sighed and Sakura giggled before leading me into his office. I closed the door and crossed my arms while Sakura stood respectfully, hands clasped behind her back.

"Look at your partner, Uchiha, why can't you be courteous like her?" Ibiki asked, amused. I snorted and leaned against the wall.

"You called us," I reminded the man.

"I did, I want you guys to take this case in Baton Rouge, its a different kind of killer."

"Different?"

"So far, there's been one confirmed kill and another one missing, the killer hides the body parts and sends riddles to the police so they can find the pieces. It took 8 riddles, as in 8 body parts, to find the first victim, Joseph Demarillo. They've also found a right leg and right hand of a potential second victim, Seymour Granjesca."

"Ok," Sakura nodded, confirming our participation.

"Flight leaves at 10 AM on Monday, that's all." Sakura nodded and I gave Ibiki a two-finger salute before taking our leave. On our way out, I spotted Hiruko, who waved to me and Sakura. Sakura, being nice and all, waved back while I stared at the short guy, still distrustful of him. We rode the elevator down, and walked out into the Floridian afternoon. It was beautiful today, sunny and bright, it was one of those days that you use for postcards. The breeze raked through my hair like it had done so many times before, cooling my scalp yet causing my hair to fall over my forehead. It raked through Sakura's hair too, blowing it around in a picture perfect frame, she was too beautiful for her own good. It caused her hair to fall over her eyes, blocking her vision.

She blew it out of her eyes and stared up at my smirking face, blushing lightly. I poked her forehead and leaned into her lips, tasting that sweet cherry blossom on her. I could feel her lips turn upward in a smile before the wind blew both of our hair onto our faces. We backed away and found ourselves staring at each other for a second.

"What was that for?" She asked me. I shrugged in response.

"Just wanted to."

"Feel free to do it whenever."

"Already do."

She giggled and walked to the car, starting it and speeding off once I was inside. My phone went off and I saw Naruto's name flash across the screen.

"What?"

"All of us are getting together at my parent's house for dinner tonight, bring Sakura!"

"Ok."

"Its at 6:30!"

"Ok."

"Wear something nice!"

"Ok."

"See ya!"

"Ok."

"Was that Naruto?" Sakura asked after I hung up.

"Yeah, everyone's going to dinner at his parent's house, we're invited."

"Should I wear something fancy?"

"Nah."

We reached our building and walked through a bunch of guys who were staring at Sakura but averted their gazes after I glared at them. Eventually we reached my apartment, where I pulled out two beers and set them on the table. Sakura and I took a seat and sipped on the alcohol while telling each other stories and just talking.

"Are you sure I'm not supposed to change?" She asked about an hour into our conversation.

"Yeah."

"Ok, but if everyone else shows up in fancy clothes I'm blaming you."

"Hn."

"Ugh, I hate you."

"No you don't."

She stuck her tongue out in response while trying her hair up in a messy bun. I smirked and finished off my beer before crashing onto the couch and extending my body so that I was laying down on the couch, watching a preview of the NFL Draft. Sakura settled on top of me, laying her head on my chest. My hand instinctively went up to her tied hair, twirling a strand of her pink hair absentmindedly. She sighed contently as we watched in silence for a couple of minutes before she spoke.

"Can everyday be like this?"

"If only," I chuckled in response.

"I'm serious, Sasuke, I want there to be days when people aren't trying to kill you," she said with sudden sternness. I sat up gently with her still in my grasp.

"There will be days like this, Sakura," I told her softly while tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "I promise after this whole Akatsuki business is done that everyday will be like this." She dipped her head, avoiding my gaze.

"I just don't want to lose you, Sasuke." I held her chin with my thumb and index finger, lifting her head so that she was looking into my obsidian eyes.

"You won't," I told her, fixing my eyes on hers, "you'll never lose me, I won't allow it." I spoke these words with firm conviction and firm belief that I could hold up that promise to her. She heard it too and smiled slightly before leaning into my embrace, holding me tightly with her unusual strength. I pulled back and smiled at her before capturing her lips in a quick kiss while laying back down. She nestled into the crook of my neck and I could feel her breath tickle my throat. For another 5 minutes, silence ensued until one of the announcers for the show made a comment that drove Sakura mad.

"What?! How can he say that? This guy sucks!" She half-yelled.

"Calm down, Sakura."

"No! How can he say that?!" She actually got up and started shouting things at the TV, all the while I sat there, struggling to conceal my laughter. She eventually couldn't hold it in and began to assault me with a pillow, reminding me of my days in the hospital. The cotton thrashed me as she swung 3 times before giving up and sitting down on the couch, scowling at me. I stopped laughing after a little bit and sat up, staring at her scowling face. I held her gaze for about 5 seconds before her facade cracked and she broke into a fit of laughter. I rolled my eyes and we went back to watching in the same position as before.

The time passed by quickly with us watching, making comments and arguing with each other about which player was better than the other the whole time. Before we knew it, the clock had struck 6:10, and we were probably going to be late. Sakura ushered me outside and pulled me by the hand to her car.

"Calm down, woman," I muttered.

"We're gonna be late!"

"Doesn't matter, we'll only be late by like 5 minutes."

"Ugh, just get in the car."

"Annoying girl," I muttered as I sat in the driver's seat.

"You know the way, right?" She inquired.

"Obviously."

"Don't have to be sarcastic it," she muttered as she buckled her seatbelt. She hummed along to the music in the car as per usual while going through her phone, updating on me on the news and any new sports things that came out.

"Think the Jaguars will actually do well this year?"

"They better after all the money they dropped in free agency."

"Spending a lot doesn't always equate to success, Sasuke."

"Don't patronize me, you annoying woman." She giggled at my insult before gasping in surprise.

"Nick Jonas came out with a new song!" She exclaimed while jumping in her seat and squealing in excitement. All I could do was shake my head and smile at her childlike antics, she could be mature or immature at the flip of a switch. It brought back fond memories for me.

Itachi was always calm and collected, never faltering, smooth under pressure. You would think that he never raised his voice.

Until the Jaguars played.

I had never seen a person get so worked up and agitated over a football game before and it still remains true to this day. So when she sat there in her seat with all of her unbridled glee, I couldn't help but make that comparison.

"Focus on the road," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I scowled and looked ahead at the traffic, causing her to giggle.

"What was distracting you?" She asked a moment later.

"Nothing."

"I hate it when you do that, it makes me think you're hiding something."

"Maybe I am."

"Fine, don't tell me you loser." She resumed her singing and humming and I resumed my driving. "Are Naruto's parents nice?" She questioned.

"Yeah, his mom will probably love you."

"Why?"

"You two have sort of similar personalities. Too nice to everyone."

"Oh, and his dad?"

"Minato is the father any kid would want, he's nice, relaxed, and levelheaded. Plus...never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You're infuriating, forget it."

"If I tell you, don't laugh."

"Ok, spill."

"He gives good advice, and he might've advised me about what to do with you."

"What?"

"It was before we were together, he sensed I was having girl problems and we talked about it. Now shut up." I was praying she couldn't see the blush on my face, but of course she did, because why the hell not.

"Aw, Sasuke," she cooed while poking my cheeks.

"I'm trying to drive," I said sternly in a weak attempt to fend her off, but all it did was get her to laugh. "You're the worst," I muttered.

"Oh shut up."

"Hn. We're here." I parked the car in their huge driveway and was about to hop out when her hand on my arm stopped me.

"What?" I asked.

"Our friends still don't know about us except for Naruto."

"I mean, they've probably assumed it."

"Ummm."

"What?" I asked again.

"Ino doesn't know."

"Well fuck me sideways."

"What do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Sasuke!"

"Just tell her after everything's done."

"But what if someone says something!"

"You know what, this is ridiculous, she's an adult, let's just go inside."

"Sasuke!"

"I'm serious, she's not a little girl, she might be disappointed but she'll get over it and I highly doubt she'll throw a tantrum or something."

"I know, but she's liked you for a long time, crushes don't disappear overnight."

"Let's just go inside, stop doubting her."

"Ok, fine, but try and look as least attractive as you can."

"Sakura that's impossible, just look at me," I replied while motioning all around my body.

"Oh my god, since when did your ego go through the roof?"

"I was kidding."

"Sure you were."

"Let's just go inside." I motioned her up the stairs and rang the doorbell. After about 10 seconds, Kushina opened the door with a grin that eerily resembled Naruto's.

"Sasuke! You're here!" She greeted before noticing Sakura.

"You must be Sakura, you really are drop-dead gorgeous!"

"Um, thank you, Mrs. Uzumaki."

"Call me Kushina!" She grabbed us both by the hand and pulled us into a brief hug before leading us to the living room where everyone else was seated.

"Sasuke, I told you to dress nicely!" Naruto yelled at me.

"Wait, what?" Sakura asked, turning to me. I shrugged and smirked her way before turning back to Naruto.

"Did you really think I would listen to you?"

"You jerk!"

"Naruto, stop screaming," Minato told his son before rising and shaking my hand. "Good to see you again, kid," he said before turning to Sakura. "Ah, and you must be Sakura, Naruto has told me about you," he said with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

"Um…" Sakura trailed off, looking at me for support.

"Anyways, dinner will be ready in like 15 minutes, so relax here while Kushina gets it ready," Minato explained before leaving for the kitchen.

"At least you guys finally showed up," Neji said as Minato walked away.

"Let it go, Neji, I'm sure they were busy," Kiba chimed in with a shit-eating grin on his face. Sakura coughed while I glared at the wolfman, promising him a swift death with the look in my eyes. Naruto made room on the sofa for me and Sakura by scooting over and we sat down on the soft material, sinking into it.

"So good job catching Deidara, you two," Ino told us.

"I didn't do anything, it was all Sasuke," Sakura said, nudging my shoulder.

"She's joking, it wasn't all me," I said, a little annoyed that she was giving me all the credit.

"Well still, catching a guy like that deserves merit, we're proud of you two," Kiba said, surprisingly mature for once.

"He's right," Naruto whispered to me. I nodded in response and shared brief eye contact with Sakura, who smiled at me. I returned her smile before Naruto clearing his throat brought both of us back to the present.

He chuckled and I glared at him before Shikamaru uttered, "here we go again." Then, Naruto and I fixed our glares onto the offending man, who threw his arms up in surrender. We passed the time listening to some life updates. Naruto had gotten a partner named Iruka, some guy in his mid 30s with a scar across his nose.

"He actually looks like he's been through alot, so you'd think that he would have a personality like Sasuke's, but it turns out he's really nice!"

Kiba had gotten a new partner too.

"Name's Shino, and he's...weird."

"Weird how?" I asked. "Well he's quiet, shy even, and he likes to speak cryptically sometimes."

"He's not lying, that dude is off," Neji added. I nodded my head and listened to everyone else pipe up. Midway through Shikamaru's speech about how taking naps was essential to every human's way of living, I felt Sakura's hand take a hold of mine, albeit out of view from everyone except Naruto. I looked at her and saw that she was still paying attention to the conversation. She had done it without even realizing. I inwardly smiled and gripped her smaller hand in mine, cherishing the sparks it sent up my arm.

"...So anyways, that's why I nap a lot," Shikamaru finished.

"Great story, really entertaining," Kiba commented.

"I second that," Ino said.

"Can someone say something interesting?" Naruto complained, shooting a glare at Shikamaru, who just sighed. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Kushina ran to answer it.

"Kakashi! Rin! How nice to see you!" She greeted with her normal cheerfulness. The white-haired man walked in with a shorter girl with brown hair that touched her shoulders.

"I'm not late, am I?" Kakashi asked. I snorted as everyone else snickered at his question. "Everyone, this is Rin," he said, introducing the girl at his side.

"Nice to meet you all," she said happily, smiling as everyone greeted her. I nodded in greeting and caught Kakashi's eye, who instantly noticed Sakura and I, hand in hand. He smiled behind his mask, and I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Sasuke! Did you introduce your girlfriend to everyone?"

That bastard.

"You...asshole," I bit out, cheeks flushed but still glaring at him. Of course, he pretended not to notice and just kept rambling on.

"I hear she's very attractive, isn't she Naruto?" Now Naruto and Sakura both turned bright red, matching my own blushing face. "Yeah! So when are we gonna meet her, Sasuke? I forgot her name though, Sakumi? Sakai? Sacagawea?"

"GOD DAMNIT KAKASHI I WILL END YOU!" I roared and leapt from my seat. Kakashi ran out of the still opened door and down the stairs, but he knew he couldn't outrun me.

"Wait, Sasuke! Don't kill me!" He screamed while opening his car and hiding inside of it. I growled from outside and he smiled behind his mask, waving at me. Only when Sakura came outside and dragged me away did I leave him in peace. He got out of the car and walked back to the house, keeping a safe distance from me while still waving and smiling. When Sakura and I got back into the house, everyone was staring at us in shock, except for Naruto, who was still rolling on the ground, laughing his ass off.

"You're dating someone named Sacagawea?" Kiba asked in shock. I slapped my palm to my forehead and took about 3 deep breaths to calm myself.

"He's dating me," Sakura stated while rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you claimed her, Sasuke," Neji said.

"Claimed me?" Sakura repeated, confused and looking at me for an explanation.

"They're stupid," I muttered, shaking my head.

"I remember that day," Kiba said.

"Broke our hearts," Shikamaru said.

"Ain't that the truth," Naruto added.

"What is going on?" She whispered to me.

"I'll explain later."

"So you guys are together?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, sorry for not telling you guys earlier," Sakura told the blonde apologetically.

"No, its ok, I figured you two would be a couple," Ino responded with a smile.

"You what?" I inquired.

"At Sakura's birthday party, you two were literally eyefucking every 2 minutes."

"Oh."

"I had to admit, I was disappointed, but then I saw you smile, Sasuke. I'm pretty sure that everyone here can say that under no circumstances do you ever smile, but when you looked at her I could see plain as day that you two were in love. Call it woman's intuition, but I figured she was the only girl for you," Ino explained.

"Wow, um, thanks," I stammered out, in no scenario did I ever picture Ino Yamanaka to be so understanding and I kind of felt like an asshole for thinking so lowly of her.

"Don't look so surprised, Sasuke, everyone saw you two becoming a thing," Naruto said with a grin plastered on his face, "though the aspect of you dating someone was pretty shocking."

"Amen to that," everyone else agreed.

"So can you stop attempting to murder me?" Kakashi said, placing his hand on my head and ruffling my hair as per usual.

"Maybe," I muttered, drawing a nervous chuckle out of my adoptive father.

"Dinner's ready!" Kushina called from the kitchen while bringing out some food with Minato in tow. Everyone helped set up the table with plates, utensils, and cups as well as bringing out the enormous amounts of food Kushina had made.

"Are you sure you made enough?" Sakura asked sarcastically as she grabbed a pot from Kushina.

"Oh quiet, you," she responded and the two of them shared a laugh. Sometimes, I envied how easily Sakura got along with people. She was the epitome of a social being, whereas I was, well, antisocial. Although, I was definitely glad to see how well she and Kushina were getting along, seeing how Kushina was basically the only mother-like figure in my life after my real mom passed away.

"Sasuke?" I heard, and focused my attention on the pinkette that had recited my name.

"Hm?" She shook her head with a smile before taking my hand in hers.

"I was telling you to come sit down, stupid."

"You don't have to insult me," I mumbled, drawing a giggle from her. We sat down at the enormous table, which looked like something out of Bruce Wayne's manor, seriously the thing was gigantic. Sakura sat to my right while Kakashi sat on my left. Kushina and Minato sat down and I got this odd feeling in my stomach as I looked around and saw everyone I cared about.

My friends, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, and Hinata. Minato and Kushina, who resemble the aunt and uncle that a kid always dream of having.

Kakashi, my adoptive father, and even his girlfriend, who I never talked to one on one, but still seemed like a nice woman.

Naruto, my best friend/brother, we were unbreakable, pretty much like Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in the Jump Street movies.

And then there was Sakura, and honestly, what could I even say to do her justice? In just a few months the girl who made me whole again and completely changed my outlook on life, no joke. Every one of my friends had noticed the change in my behavior once she arrived into my life, everyone noticed that I had started to smile and laugh again, everyone noticed that I had finally moved past my insomnia. It was all because of her that I could look around this table and feel satisfied that I was part of this huge family.

That's why I was smiling, and when I looked at her, she was smiling right back at me, because like always, she knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Ahem," Kakashi cleared his throat loud enough to capture mine and Sakura's attention. I turned to the head of the table, where Minato was standing, ready to address us all.

"So I was thinking, we should really make this a weekly thing, its nice having people over," he announced.

"We get lonely sometimes," Kushina added, especially since our son and his best friend are always working." The attention of the table quickly turned to me and Naruto, who was scratching his head in embarrassment while I kept a small smirk on my face.

"Don't worry, we'll all make time," Kakashi stated, looking at me in particular. I scowled at him while taking a sip of my Jameson Irish.

"Yeah, we'll all be here," Neji stated.

"All right, then now I want to have a toast," Minato announced while grabbing his glass. We all rose ours in response, waiting to hear with the man would say. "To the success of everyone here in their individual pursuits, to the bright future that awaits, to our health, to our companionship," he paused and I swore he glanced at me for a second, "and to new beginnings," he finished, and downed a sip of his drink. We dug into the food that was laid out in front of us, which was extremely well-prepared.

From meats to sweets, anything a person needed to fill their stomach was right here, laid out with expensive silverware. Conversation carried throughout the entire meal, ranging from work to current events. There were some political jabs thrown around here and there until the topic turned to the numerous hurricanes flooding the Caribbean and maybe reaching Florida.

"I'm telling you, Mother Nature is angry," Naruto said through mouthfuls of food.

"Close your mouth, you barbarian," Neji scolded. Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics, and surprisingly, Naruto noticed. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and Hinata stifled another giggle. That was certainly interesting. I took another bite from my plate before my phone went off. I set my fork down and wiped my hands before taking it out and seeing Jugo's name flash across the screen. "What is it?" I asked right away, annoyed that he had called at such a time.

"Sasuke, its...Deidara is dead."

"I figured it would happen," I sighed. The news came as no surprise to me as Deidara hinted he would be killed by the Akatsuki because of his failure to kill me.

"It was a lethal injection administered right into his bloodstream, someone snuck in and killed him quickly, cameras found no footage of anyone."

"What about eyewitnesses?"

"None." "Fuck," I exhaled, I remembered back to when I was interrogating Deidara, the Akatsuki was real.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, thanks for telling me."

"Yeah, bye." I hung up the phone and everyone's eyes were on me.

"Sorry, some work bullshit, finance lost a cost report that could be problematic," I quickly lied. Almost everyone bought it.

Almost.

I looked at the pinkette and mouthed "later" before returning to my food and the conversation.


	20. Family (cont)

"I'm completely full," Naruto sighed as he collapsed on the couch. I shook my head at him and everyone else, who were in a similar state, bunch of lightweights. The dishes had been washed and the table had been wiped clean, leaving no chores to do, so everyone had gathered in the living room in the same state, stuffed to the brim.

I had eaten a good amount, just not enough to immediately lay down on the couch and die. I walked outside onto the deck that overlooked the backyard, staring at the green pastures that were darkened by the night sky, resembling an ocean, almost. I leaned on the railing and blew the hair out of my face. I used to do this a lot, back before Sakura became my partner and I still worked alone, I used to always stand outside late at night and just wonder about things. My parents. Itachi. Loneliness.

However, as I stood there, I found nothing to torture my mind, I just stood there calmly as a pair of arms wrapped around me and a face rested on my back.

"What're you doing out here all alone?" She whispered.

"Thinking."

"About?"

"I don't really know."

"Sounds interesting."

"Now you've disturbed my brain."

"Aw, I made you upset, I'm sorry." I turned and held her arms in place, my face inches from hers.

"Don't tease me," I whispered into her ear, brushing the shell with my lips. She turned her head and touched my lips with hers.

"I won't," she breathed into my mouth. I almost ripped off her clothes right there and then. But we weren't alone, so I settled for kissing her until we heard the door open and Kakashi stepped out. We quickly separated and stood next to each other, glaring at the intruder.

"Sakura, Kushina is calling you inside," the white-haired man said nonchalantly. We shared one last glance before she went inside and Kakashi stood next to me, hands in his pockets, like always.

"Now what were you two doing alone out here, I wonder," he mused. I felt my ears burn almost immediately. "That's what I thought," he chuckled.

"You're always bothering me," I muttered.

"That I am."

"And you enjoy it too."

"That I do." A minute of silence passed by as we both leaned on the railing, staring off into space. "I have to admit, Sasuke, I never would've thought you would end up with someone so...well to be honest I didn't think you would end up with anyone."

"Thanks."

"Oh come on, you were an asshole to pretty much everyone."

"Thanks."

"What I'm trying to say is that she's good for you, as a person, she's made you much better."

"You think I don't know that?"

"Just wanted to say it."

"Thanks."

"So why are we out here again?"

"You know what, let's just go back inside."

"Good idea." We walked back inside, where mostly everyone had recovered from their situation, so they were sitting up on the couch, conversing about whatever. I sat down with Kakashi and joined the conversation they were having about which place has the best pizza.

"Papa John's!" Naruto declared.

"Pizza Hut!" Kiba shot back.

"Sbarro!" Ino intervened.

"This argument is stupid!" Kushina yelled. It was, everyone knew local pizza joints were the best. But that didn't stop them from continuing their heated debate. It got to the point where Kushina literally started screaming at them to change the topic to literally anything else, I kid you not. I just tuned them out and leaned back in my seat, listening to bits and pieces of the conversation while remembering what Jugo had told me.

Deidara was dead, most likely killed by an Akatsuki member to cover up their tracks. He was gone forever, and I couldn't help but feel a little disturbed by that, the fact that the Akatsuki would kill someone so formidable so easily was enough cause for concern. It also meant that everyone they sent from now on would be more dangerous than the blonde bomber.

"Hey, Sasuke! Answer the question!" I looked up at Naruto and around the rest of the room.

"Huh?"

"Wasn't the Tyler Lawson case the one where we had to chase him around an amusement park?" Tyler Lawson was a man who beat two men to death with a club back in my Jacksonville PD days. Naruto and I tracked him down into an abandoned amusement park and chased him through.

"Yeah, he's the one I pegged in the head with a baseball," I answered with a smirk and Naruto laughed at the memory.

"He fell face first after that into the Ring Toss!" The blonde said in between laughs. The smirk on my face remained at the memory while the rest of the room laughed at our story. It went like that until late into the night, telling stories, until we called it off.

"We'll see you next Friday!" Kushina called to us as we left.

"I'm so tired," Shikamaru yawned.

"You're always tired," Kiba told him.

"I'm tired too," Neji said.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Naruto waved as he drove away. Unbeknownst to him, Hinata had offered a small wave in reply as she got into the passenger seat of Neji's car. Sakura and I got into her car and she waved to everyone as I drove out of the driveway and onto the dark road.

"It's the Akatsuki, isn't it," I heard her ask, "that's why you were drifting off sometimes." I nodded my head in response.

"Deidara is dead, someone killed him and I'm 100% sure it was the Akatsuki," I explained.

"Covering up their tracks," she said.

"Yeah."

"So they showed you what they're willing to do."

"They've played their hand, but I haven't played mine."

"Damn right, Sasuke Uchiha." I grinned at the road at her confident words and she laughed as well, never before in human history have two people been so calm after learning a death gang is after them.

We're fucking crazy.

She ended up falling asleep on the way back and I drove in silence the whole way back. It was quiet, and the roads were filled with one car ahead of us, Naruto's. It was a one lane, so I just tailgated him to mess with him while Sakura shifted in her seat. He rolled down his window and flipped me off, drawing a smirk to my face. We drove in sync the rest of the way, reaching the apartments in 15 minutes and pulling into the lot.

"Jerk," Naruto called once we got out of our respective vehicles. I smirked and opened the passenger seat, where Sakura was still asleep, and lifted her bridal style. Naruto just smiled at us and led the way up. We got to our apartments and Naruto saluted me before going inside his place while I opened the door and brought Sakura inside of mine. I threw off her shoes and kicked off my own before walking into my room and placing her onto the bed. I took my shirt off and grabbed a glass of water before settling into bed myself. The pinkette shuffled towards me and I smirked.

"You were awake, asshole." I heard her giggle lightly and took that as confirmation.

"Goodnight, Sasuke," she whispered.

"Annoying," I muttered in response before closing my eyes.


	21. Baton Rouge

The weekend flew by and the new week had arrived quickly. Sakura and I had gotten ready and were waiting at the airport at around 9:30. Boarding had only started for First Class, something the FBI would never invest in. Both of us were struggling to stay awake as a late night of drinking and other things were taking its toll on us this wonderful Monday morning. My head hurt like a bitch, there was no way Sakura and I could work at our full potential like this.

"Sakura?" I rasped.

"Hm?"

"I think I'm dying."

"Me too."

"Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"I think we drank too much."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Flight 101 to Baton Rouge is now boarding classes 1-5," the attendant said into the mic.

"Why is she yelling?" I moaned as Sakura took my hand and led me to the back of the line where I put my forehead onto her shoulder in an attempt to fall asleep. It almost worked until we had to move up, much to my dismay.

"I promise we can sleep on the plane, Sasuke," Sakura assured me.

"It's like an hour flight."

"Just be grateful we don't have to drive." We eventually boarded the plane and as soon as I hit my seat, I was out like a light.

"Sasuke," I heard Sakura say as I blinked my eyes open. "We're here." I looked out the window to see that we had indeed landed. My headache had gotten a little better, but it still bothered me. We got off the plane and attained our rental car shortly after. Sakura drove us to the police station. It was a large building, around 4 stories tall and pretty wide.

"Let's go," I mumbled to Sakura who followed me inside the reddish-brown building. We were met with a quiet environment, but not quiet as in calm, quiet as in an eerie silence, like something had shocked the entire department into hushed panic.

"Agents Uchiha and Haruno, welcome," a slender old man greeted, "I'm Commissioner Simon Colwell, thanks for coming."

"Part of the job," Sakura replied cheerfully as I shook the man's hand. Colwell gave her a kind, old-man smile, like the ones your grandparents would give after they baked cookies for you.

"Where are we setting up?" I asked the man.

"Top floor, that's where our homicide detectives are." I nodded and we made our way to where our office was located. The top floor was easily the smallest in the building, containing only 5 rooms in total, one for interrogation, three for the other detectives, and one conference room, where we would be setting up. Inside the conference room was a clear board as well all of the crime scene photos.

"I've been a cop for 30 years now and I've never seen anything like this. When I first saw the bodies I threw up, haven't done that since I was a rookie."

He looked at us and for the first time in any seasoned cop I saw a look of pure desperation. I've looked at desperate people before, but this, this was something else. Whatever this man had seen had shaken him to the core. Whatever this man had seen would give him nightmares.

"Never before has the entire city been scared like this. Barely anyone has walked the streets after dark for the past few days, it's like we've become a ghost town. I saw a news reporter cry on air after one of the body parts on the first victim, Joseph Demarillo. I'm begging you agents, find this guy."

Then, I did something that surprised even me. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him right in the eye. "We'll do everything we can, Commissioner," I told him firmly. The gray-haired man smiled and nodded at my words.

"We've doubled patrols during the daytime and nighttime. The cops here are doing everything we can. If you need anything regarding evidence, just ask one of the detectives, they'll be happy to help," Colwell told us.

"We'll get to work right away," Sakura told the man, bringing a smile to his face. It seemed like she had a calming effect on everyone, not just me.

"Thank you," Colwell said gratuitously before leaving the room. Sakura turned to me and we shared a brief nod.

"Let's do this," she said as she handed me some crime scene photos.

That's when I saw it, why everyone in this station was so hushed and desperate.

A severed arm hanging from a tree with a hook through the palm of the hand to keep it secured against the bark. By the time the police had arrived at the scene the arm had gone completely white from lack of blood. The other arm had been found on top of a law firm where the first victim, Joseph Demarillo worked. His legs had been found at different construction sites. His body was found hidden in the middle school's boiler room. His head was found on a stick in the basement of the Baton Rouge Hospital, but the eyes were removed. The eyes were the only thing missing until they were delivered straight to the police station with a 2 notes attached reading: You can only see so much before the game starts again.

I saw Sakura close her eyes and cover her mouth with a hand. No one could blame her, these were some of the most gruesome photos I had ever seen in my career. She wasn't used to this kind of violence, she hasn't been exposed to it like I have.

"O-ok, I think we should start with evidence," she said shakily. She noticed the concern in my eyes and gave me a reassuring look. "I'll be fine, Sasuke." I nodded and we went to work. All of the body parts were cut cleanly off, most likely with an axe. As for the eyes, they were removed postmortem with knives judging from these photos. "I'd say the killer is a male," Sakura stated.

"Why?"

"Well if it was a woman who loved cutting people's bodies up then why didn't she remove the genitalia? Plus there was a bruise on Demarillo's left arm caused by a hand gripping it too tightly. The measurements estimate the hand size to be about 7.57 inches, around the average size of a man's hand."

"Ok so our suspect's a male. Definitely in control of his emotions because these kills are thought out and planned. So far there's nothing distinguishable at the crime scenes, all we have are riddles," I concluded.

"Well let's start looking through them." We each grabbed some of the riddles and got started. The first riddle I read was, "I drink, but not from a glass. I use thousands of fingers to eat. What am I?" The answer was a tree, which was where one of Demarillo's arms were found hanging by hook. The second riddle read, "I first came into this world here, now I will leave it in that same place." The answer to that one was the hospital, where Demarillo's head was found.

"This guy is really sick," Sakura shuddered as she put the pictures down. I thought about any possible angles we could use judging from the pictures, but all I could gather was that this man was a true sadist and loved riddles.

"Did the hospital's cameras capture anything?" Sakura asked me.

"No. There's no trace of anyone entering the basement except for one of the nurses, but she's already been cleared," I replied.

"What about the school?"

"Nothing."

"There has to be something," Sakura muttered while picking up another set of files. I picked up another set from where his left leg was found and scanned it for any possible clues. "Sasuke!" Sakura suddenly gasped.

"What is it?"

"There's camera footage of a blue Toyota truck at the construction site during midnight when no one was there."

"Can we get the plates?"

"I might be able to, the picture was taken from an awkward angle."

"The tech should be able to rotate the picture."

"Then let's go!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room. We walked down a couple floors to where the techs were working to gain any new evidence.

"Hey," I called out, "can one of you rotate this picture and clear it up so we can get the plates from the truck?"

"I can do it," A middle-aged man volunteered. Sakura handed him the picture and the tech pulled it up on screen from their case files. "It'll be tricky, give me 30 minutes and I'll get it back to you," the man said. I let out an agitated sigh before making my way to the door, a half-hour was a long time to be waiting. Sakura and I went back to our office and dug further into the files and evidence we were given. I reexamined every photo, every piece of evidence, but there was nothing. It was like this killer was a ghost, leaving no trace behind.

"There's no trace in the right leg and right arm of the second victim, Seymour Granjesca, either. Just two riddles. The one for his leg is 'What starts with P and ends with E and has more than 1000 letters?' The answer was the Post Office, where a severed leg was found in a package. The one for his arm was 'The maker doesn't want it the buyer doesn't use it and the user doesn't know it. What is it?' The answer to that one was a coffin. The killer dug up Demarillo's grave and put Granjesca's arm in it, Sasuke," She explained.

"Damn," I muttered, that last part was pretty disturbing. I made us some coffee as we waited for the tech to finish making our picture visible so that we could locate the killer. Other than that photograph there was no evidence left behind which didn't sit right with me. Even some of the most skilled serial killers left clues behind. The fact that this killer almost didn't leave a trace already confirms that this killer could end up being my hardest case. I've arrested ever killer I've been chasing while in the FBI and the only time someone went free was when Naruto and I violated a man's rights in catching a murderer in Jacksonville. However, we arrested the man again after linking him to another murder, sending him away for life.

"I think this is a guy who admires people like The Zodiac Killer, he loves that he can get away with taunting us with riddles, he gets off on it," Sakura theorized while we sat sipping on our coffee, waiting for that tech.

"Hello?" We heard a voice say while knocking on our door.

"Come in," Sakura replied. The tech walked in and finally gave us the news we were waiting for.

"I'm done," He said. We followed him down and stood behind him while he showed us the picture of the truck. The license plate was clear as day, a sequence of letters and numbers corresponding to someone, this is how we'll catch this killer.

"Run the plates," I told the tech.

"Gladly, sir."

The database did its thing and in a minute, we had a name.

"Belongs to a James Maybrick. Address is 22 Silver Avenue." I nodded to Sakura and we raced to our car. We raced towards the address with our siren blaring and our speed well surpassing the limit. I pulled up to the house followed by a couple police cars that had followed us to the house. Sakura and I drew our guns and knocked on the door.

"James Maybrick, this is the FBI, come out now!" Sakura yelled, but there was no answer. After about 10 seconds, Sakura nodded to me and I kicked the door off its hinges. We checked the house, which was small and barren. The walls were torn and the furniture was old and creaky, but there was definitely someone living here from the bag of chips opened and sitting on a coffee table. There was nobody in the house however, Maybrick must've known we were coming. Sakura checked upstairs while I opened the door of the basement and went inside.

It was cold and dark, every step creaked as I held one of my Brownings in my left hand and a flashlight in my right. There were no lights and smelled rotten, like something had died here. I pointed my flashlight around, but all I could see were some gallons of bleach, some lawn supplies, the usual things you would see in a basement, nothing too unusual. The walls were white with some dirt and grime stuck to them and the floor was littered with garbage.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called down from the doorway. I walked over and looked up to her. "There's nothing upstairs," she confirmed.

"Give me a minute," I told her before resuming my search. I holstered my gun and walked around with just my flashlight on, looking to see if I missed anything. I spotted something strange in the corner of the room so I walked over to give it a look. It was a picture of Seymour Granjesca and his wife at a local amusement park called The Great Escape. It was a little dusty, but not too old. Maybe Maybrick left it here as a reminder, but as I walked around and shone my flashlight onto the floor, I could see marks in the floor. The ground had been chipped in some places, like there was a table or chair here. The scratches were numerous, like the legs of a chair had been slammed down onto the floor.

That's when it hit me.

The picture and the scratches, couple that with the bleach, this is where Granjesca was cut up.

I was standing right where it happened.

I closed my eyes and imagined the scene. Granjesca was tied to the chair, his body still intact, but not for long. The killer puts the picture in front of Granjesca as he taunts him, breaking him down mentally. Then, he starts cutting, chopping the limbs clean off with one fell swoop of an axe. Granjesca screams, but shortly dies from blood loss after having his limbs cut off. The head and eyes are removed postmortem. All body parts are stored in separate coolers to keep them from decaying long enough so that they can be preserved for the police to find. The bleach is used to clean the blood and seal away the stench of death, concealing any visible evidence. The killer then goes upstairs and relaxes for a bit, only to be interrupted. He knew we were coming, most likely from tapping into the police comms. There is a possibility of a snitch in the department, but judging from the horror on their faces, it's doubtful at best. The killer packs everything up and leaves, aware that the police have found his location, but in a hurry, meaning he couldn't have gotten too far.

"Sakura," I called while walking upstairs. She turned to face me at the sound of her name. "Did you put an APB out for the truck?"

"Yeah, but there's something else, Sasuke," she told me.

"What is it?"

"James Maybrick is an alias, the real one's been dead for 6 years."

"Yeah I was beginning to think that as well, any clue as to who was using the identity?"

"None. But there's a note that was left behind."

"Let me see it." She handed me a folded piece of paper and moved next to me so that she could read it as well. I unfolded the paper and read the note. Immediately, both Sakura and I looked at each other in shock.

The note read: _You almost caught me, Sasuke. Almost._

 _Signed, Sasori._ _  
_


	22. Sakura VS Sasori

It had been a week since we found that note. In that week, the rest of Seymour Granjesca had been found in pieces, but oddly enough, Sasori hadn't taken anyone since then. Sasori of the Red Sand they called him, ranked as the #7 Most Wanted Man for the FBI, right behind his partner, Deidara. He has 19 confirmed kills under his belt, though that number only reflects the ones that have been found. Some estimates put him at almost 100 kills, all in a brutal fashion. His murders have ranged from making his victims eat hot rocks to slicing off people's tongues and making them choke on it. He was the one cutting these people into pieces and tormenting the entirety of Baton Rouge. It was all him, and it was all for me. He was killing for me, so that he could lure me in and do what Deidara failed to.

But for now, he was in hiding. In the note, Sasori had said that I nearly had him, but ever since then, all the leads Sakura and I had been following turned out to be dead ends. We had located 4 possible hideouts near the house Sasori was staying at, but all of them were empty, save for one that was being used as a meth lab. Baton Rouge still had a shadow over it, so much so that a curfew had been placed. Everyone was to be inside by 10 PM, no exceptions.

That's the power fear has over people.

I had just woken up earlier than I had planned to, the clock still read 6:00 PM. Sakura and I were living off of 3 hours of sleep each day, but today I had only gotten two. The Commissioner insisted that we get at least 6 hours, but as long as Sasori was still at large there was no way we could sleep that much. So we napped from 4-7 PM, yet today I woke up early for some reason. We had a full day ahead as we were following another lead on Sasori that we had obtained from the two victims. Both were taken 10 miles apart from each other, which gave us a large radius, but another similarity between the victims was that both of them were successful and wealthy, meaning they lived in the rich neighborhoods. They were taken on their ways back to work. Demarillo was taken from his workplace because his car was still in the parking garage, meaning he was most likely taken on his way out. Granjesca had made it home and had parked his car, so he was taken from right outside his house as he was walking to the door. Our radius was 5 miles now, yet Sasori hadn't taken anyone yet. Sakura and I had studied the victims and evidence time and time again, we had practically memorized everything, yet we didn't have a clue as to where Sasori was.

If we did a perimeter search, than all of the cops would be in one location, meaning Sasori would be free to capture someone else while we were distracted. So all that was left was for us to keep narrowing the radius.

"Can't sleep?" Sakura asked. I looked down at the tired pinkette in my arms and nodded my head. We laid there for a little bit before getting ready and making our way back to the police station. We walked into our office and were surprised to see the Police Commissioner waiting for us.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, you two," the old man said. This week had taken more out of him than anyone else. The man was old, but right now he looked like a ghost.

"What is it?" Sakura inquired.

"Another one's been taken." I inwardly cursed at the man's words. "This time, its a woman, Grace Hargreaves, 28 years old and Executive for David & Johnson. She was reported missing a couple of hours ago and we're presuming its this Sasori character as it fits his MO. She was taken from the parking garage of the company. All cameras in the area were turned off, however, so we can't get a visual. Now if you'll excuse me, I must talk with her family. Do your best agents, I know you've been working as hard as you can," the man told us before giving us a tired smile and leaving our office.

"He looks terrible," Sakura murmured as she turned to me.

"Let's go check the crime scene," I responded. We walked out and to the car before driving to our destination. We made our way past the reporters who were itching for an interview and ducked under the yellow tape. At first glance, the scene was clean, no blood, nothing on the ground, just a car. Sasori left no evidence behind, nothing to track him by, just like I expected. From the looks of it, he probably used chloroform to knock her unconscious and take her with him to wherever he was hiding. The car was currently being dusted for prints, but I could tell that they would find nothing.

I walked over and pictured the scene. Hargreaves walks out of work, unsuspecting of any incoming danger, she opens the passenger door and puts her briefcase inside before closing the door and walking to the driver's side. That's when Sasori took her, before she even touched the handle. He checks if anyone's nearby before dumping her into his car and driving away. I walked over to Sakura, who was sifting through Hargreaves' briefcase for anything.

"Just M&A's, nothing special in here," she told me. I nodded and gave the whole place a once over before turning around and going back to our car. "I think we should visit Hargreaves' apartment, there might be something there that may be of use," Sakura told me.

"Ok," I sighed. I turned the key to ignite the car's engine but the car wouldn't start. I turned the key again and again at least 6 times, but it wouldn't start. "FUCK!" I yelled before smacking the steering wheel in frustration. I slumped back in my seat, tired and angry.

"That was nice," Sakura remarked with a small smile on her face before she slumped back in her seat as well.

"I have a short temper."

"I know, Sasuke, but we still have places to go."

"The car won't start," I muttered. She reached over and turned the key, igniting the engine. I looked at her incredulously before sitting up. "How the hell did you do that?" I wondered, drawing a small laugh from her. "Where are we going again?"

"Hargreaves' apartment, its been sealed off since she lives alone so maybe we can find why Sasori took her." I nodded and drove off, following Sakura's directions until we reached an enormous apartment complex that looked expensive. I'm pretty sure a 7-figure salary was a requirement to live here and here I am still at 5-figures living in an ok apartment.

Oh well.

Sakura and I made our way up to her apartment where an officer was stationed. We showed him our badges and he lifted up the tape to let us in. The apartment looked even more expensive from the inside, decorated with portraits and paintings and smelling faintly of money. The ceiling was at least 20 feet high and the windows overlooked the city. Hargreaves' kitchen was bigger than my entire apartment, no joke.

Sakura and I looked around, trying to find any potential evidence as to where Sasori would take Hargreaves. I went into her bedroom while Sakura checked the bathroom, but we both found nothing. I searched her kitchen next but there was nothing other than normal kitchen stuff.

"Sasuke," Sakura called. I walked over to the living room, where an enormous TV resided along with a huge sofa that looked like it was worth half a year's rent.

"Find anything?" I asked.

"No, there's just a bunch of technology and a fireplace, nothing out of the ordinary." I walked over to the fireplace Sakura was talking about and examined it. There were a bunch of framed pictures resting on top of it. A couple of them were Hargreaves and her family while some others were pictures of Hargreaves when she was just a child. She was smiling brightly while on top of her dad's shoulders. When you're a kid, the highest place in the world was always your dad's shoulders, its a special place. Sakura picked up the picture of Hargreaves as a child and stared at the blonde-haired girl with a pained look on her face.

"I know we're not supposed to be emotional when we're working cases, but..." She trailed off, though I knew what she was trying to say. I slowly took the photo from her hand and placed it back before grasping her hand. She looked up at me and neither of said anything because we didn't need to. She knew what my eyes were telling her, that we would try our best to save this woman. If we can't save her, than that's that. I didn't like the idea of someone dying, but it had happened to me before and it would happen again. Sakura gave me a small, yet encouraging smile before walking towards the entrance to the place. I took one more glance at the pictures and followed after her.

I only took 2 steps before turning around, my eyes glinting with recognition.

It was a picture of Grace Hargreaves and her little brother at an amusement park called The Great Escape. I've seen that park before, on a picture of Seymour Granjesca and his wife, the same photo Sasori had left in that house.

He left a clue for me.

The small amusement park fit our radius as well, I had no doubt that he was there, waiting.

"Sakura," I called out. She turned to face me with an inquisitive look on her face, but it quickly turned to realization.

"You know where he is," she summarized. I nodded and we were off, running to the car and firing up the engine. "Should I call the local PD?" She inquired.

"No, Deidara made it clear that the Akatsuki want no outside interference." She nodded at my answer and looked ahead, guiding me to the abandoned park.

I sped through the streets of the city, sirens blaring as I formulated a plan in my head. Sasori wasn't a large man, he stood at about 5'8", only a bit taller than Sakura. He weighed in at about 150 pounds as well, so he wasn't a physical fighter, probably tries to use his small frame to outmaneuver people. However, all the evidence against him made it seem that Sasori wasn't too well versed in hand-to-hand combat as most of his victims were small and not too capable of defending themselves against someone like him. Sakura and I could definitely take him on, especially if I could defeat Deidara 1-on-1. The only thing that had me worried was Grace Hargreaves, the victim.

The worst case scenario was that he might've already cut her up and stored her parts away. I was holding out hope that she was in one piece, but right now it was a 50-50 chance.

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered to me, "we're here." I looked ahead to see a small amusement park, not nearly the size of a Six Flags or Dorney Park. It was old school, a local place for the families of Baton Rouge to visit, not really suited to hordes of tourists like current day amusement parks. The place was decrepit, the entrance sign had half fallen off and there was dust and garbage everywhere. The ferris wheel looked like it was about to fall over and the rollercoasters were already half gone. The game booths were already torn down, waiting to be removed.

Sakura and I walked through the abandoned place with our hands on our guns, ready to draw should trouble strike. The night had set in, darkness wrapping us in its grip. I scanned the area, but my eyes came up empty. I couldn't hear anything except the sound of wind howling in agony. My eyes caught something nailed to a pole, an old poster with fading text. It was a picture of two red-headed performers standing back to back, smiling. The title read: **Witness a Stunning Performance from the World's Best Trapeze Artists!**

"My parents were the best," a voice called out. It was the man we had been hunting, Sasori of the Red Sand. He claimed that moniker when he fed a man red sand to the point where the man couldn't breathe.

"Where's the girl, Sasori?" Sakura questioned the man in a rarely stern tone. A couple of moments passed in silence as we gazed at each other. I remembered seeing Sasori right after I had arrested Deidara, back in Fort Myers. I knew there was something off about the way he looked and waved at me, turns out I was right. He looked young, way too young to be a criminal of his caliber, maybe puberty forgot to get him because he could pass for a high school freshman.

"You don't know this, but I spent the first 13 years of my life in Baton Rouge. This place is special to me, you know, this was my favorite park in the world when I was a child. I came here so often to see my parents perform their amazing acts, watching them was magical, the way they balanced themselves, the way they kept themselves from falling, it was brilliant. Oh how I loved to watch them put on a show."

"I'm not asking again, Sasori," Sakura threatened, aiming her gun right at Sasori. All he did was cock his head to the side in amusement and shift his gaze from me to her.

"Of course my happiness was literally cut short when a man gutted my mom and dad, truly saddening that was. For a time, all I could think about was that man and how he had broken my heart. My parents were taken from me, and for what? Why did he do it? It baffled me, so I researched. I delved into books and researched everything I could about serial killers. I just had to know why he did it, why take a boy's happiness away from him? What did he gain from it? Yet after all this research, I couldn't understand. But when I appeared in court as a witness, I saw it. While the prosecutor asked me his questions, I caught that killer's eyes and looked into them. He smiled at me, and that's when I understood. He killed them because he wanted to, for fun. It made me curious, how fun could taking a life be? So to satisfy my curiosity, I killed a little girl. I realized that murdering was a thrill, the best feeling in the world, so I kept killing."

"You're testing my patience, freak," Sakura taunted the boy-man.

"My target is Sasuke Uchiha...those were my orders, yet, as I stand here, I can't help but be distracted by you," Sasori said, licking his lips.

"If you want to impress a girl, don't lick your lips like a predator," she responded.

"A sharp tongue you have," Sasori giggled, like a child. He raised his arms and pressed a button in his hand. My first thought was a bomb, but it turns out it was for the lights. The old bulbs flickered on, lighting up a ride behind Sasori. It was a small rollercoaster, the ones you would take a 4-year old on. Only that the ride currently had Grace Hargreaves standing on the track cuffed by her wrists to two rollercoaster cars going opposite directions.

"I'll make her something special, she'll be one of my favorite pieces, don't you worry about that," Sasori mused.

"You bastard," I growled, taking a step forward, only to be stopped by Sakura.

"Yes...she'll be special, but not as special as you Sakura. You'll be my masterpiece, the one people will remember me by. I'll cherish every part of you."

"I'm gonna slit your throat and watch you die, you sack of shit," I told Sasori.

"No, Sasuke, you don't interest me at the moment, I want Sakura," Sasori demanded.

"You don't get to choose," I replied.

"No! Do as I say or the girl dies now!" The redhead screamed, putting his finger on the switch to activate the rollercoaster.

"Sasuke, try getting her free while I deal with him," Sakura told me.

"No, you'll be playing right into his hands, you're not going after him alone."

"Don't be stubborn, Sasuke, he'll kill Hargreaves if we go at him together."

"I don't care, I'll put a bullet through his head right now and we can be done with this."

"Sasuke, please, you have to trust me."

"I trust you, it's him I don't trust."

"You told me in Fort Myers that you would take care of Deidara alone, remember? I didn't like it, but I let you go off by yourself, remember that? I was a nervous wreck because of it, but I still let you get him alone because I saw that look in your eyes. I had faith in you Sasuke, so can't you have faith in me?"

She had a point, of course she had a point.

"Be careful," I whispered to her as I kissed her forehead, "don't you dare die."

"I won't," she responded with that dazzling smile of hers. I nodded and backed off so that Sakura could make a move against Sasori and give me some space to get to Hargreaves. Sasori began to walk towards Sakura, a creepy, yet childish grin covering his face. Sakura aimed her pistol at his head in return, her eyes glaring daggers at him.

"If you throw your gun away, my dear Sakura, then I will throw the switch to my toy away. Fair?"

"You sure you want to fight me, Sasori? It won't end well for you, I'm afraid," Sakura jeered as she tossed her gun to the side.

"I have honed my fighting skills and bested some good opponents, Sakura," the redhead responded, placing the switch on the ground and kicking it away.

"They're not me," the pinkette responded before walking menacingly towards the small redhead. Sasori attacked first, swiping at Sakura's head with his fists. He was fast, that was for sure as he almost caught Sakura. She was on the defensive, backing away as Sasori lunged at her, trying to grab at her throat. He aimed a kick at her head that she deflected with her forearm. However, the force of the kick still staggered her slightly. Sasori saw the opening he created and kicked her in the stomach, pushing her back a couple of steps.

"How disappointing," Sasori sighed as he lunged again, barely missing her head with a punch and nearly connecting with another to the stomach. Sakura still took a defensive stance, deflecting a kick and parrying a punch before feinting to the right and avoiding a 1-2 punch from Sasori.

It took everything I had to look away, in fact I almost didn't, but Grace Hargreaves was still in danger as long as she was cuffed to those rollercoaster cars. So I turned away as Sakura caught Sasori's leg and threw him aside. Hargreaves was still unconscious when I got to her, and the cuffs around her wrists had caused her to start bleeding. I took out a black Army knife and stuck the point of the blade inside the lock of the cuffs. I kept my ear as close to the cuffs as I could so that I could hear the clicking sound that signified the cuffs were unlocked. I fiddled around with the cuff around her left hand first, moving my knife around until I heard the click.

One down. One to go.

I moved over to her right side and did the same with my knife, freeing both of her arms and successfully taking her away from the death contraption Sasori had built. I checked her pulse to make sure she was still breathing and carried her off the ride and to the ground where Sakura and Sasori were still fighting. I laid Hargreaves down and turned my attention upwards. Sasori didn't have the switch anymore and I had his hostage, there was nothing preventing me from getting in there, yet, I didn't. This was Sakura's fight, even though she was in danger right now, I had faith in her, she would finish this fight.

Sasori continued assaulting her, but Sakura didn't let him land any clean blows. As it was going right now, Sasori had gotten some hits in, but none of them were hard. He was tiring himself out at this rate, part of Sakura's plan. He was getting slower at this point, his hits weren't forcing Sakura back like they were. This time she caught his arm when he threw a punch, held it in place, then delivered a brutal elbow right to his nose, breaking it. He roared in agony, crimson liquid spilling from his nostrils as he glared at Sakura.

She just smirked at him in return.

God, I love this woman.

Sasori lunged again, only to be tripped by Sakura. He rolled to his feet and tried to sidekick her, but she was ready. She lifted her right leg and hit Sasori's leg from underneath, forcing his kick upwards and over her, then, without putting her right leg down, she kicked his other leg out from under him, making him land on his back, all in one fell swoop. He tried to grab ahold of her from the ground, but she just stomped on his arm and kicked him in the face. Sasori rolled to his feet and let loose a lightning-fast jab that almost connected. However, Sakura moved to the side, grabbed ahold of his wrist, pulled him towards her, and using his momentum as well as the momentum of her fist, absolutely ANNIHILATED him with a punch that resounded across the place. It literally flattened Sasori, actually for a second I thought it killed him.

He was motionless, lying there like a statue. Sakura looked up at me, panting but smiling victoriously. I sighed in relief and fell to my knees, watching that was both physically and emotionally draining for me, I needed a break. I closed my eyes and dropped my head, being fooled into thinking it was over.

It wasn't.

I heard a yelp and opened my eyes to see Sakura pinned to the ground with a rabid Sasori trying to stab at her with a knife. She held his wrist, preventing him from bringing the knife down onto her. I leapt into action, only for the unconscious Grace Hargreaves to suddenly wake up yelling bloody hell. She grabbed a hold of me, screaming for me to get off of her.

"DON'T KILL ME!" She yelled at me while shaking my collar. I swiftly knocked her aside and went to assist Sakura, but she was already on her feet. Sasori was desperate now, he was slashing wildly to keep Sakura away from him almost cutting her one time. She was too fast for him, however, so he couldn't land a solid strike. He tried to stab her, but she caught his knife hand by the wrist, punched him on his already broken nose, causing him to cry out in agony, then held Sasori's arm in place before swinging her other fist upwards right underneath his elbow, breaking his arm into a 90-degree angle. The redhead screamed in agony, only to be silenced by a kick to the head. He was definitely out now.

I let out a relieved sigh, falling to my knees for a second time. I caught Grace Hargreaves' confused look and showed her my badge before telling her everything will be alright and cops are on the way and all of that usual stuff.

"Stay," I told her before getting up and going over to the pinkette who was regaining her breath.

"That was exhausting," she gasped out.

"You're not hurt, are you?" I asked her.

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"No concussion, right?"

"Oh my god, Sasuke, I'm fine, I swear."

"Good," I breathed out.

"You're so cute when you worry," she giggled.

"You have no idea how stressful watching that was."

"Yep, I have no idea. Not like I was part of it or anything."

"I think I had multiple heart attacks through that, Sakura. I was scared out of my mind that he would pull out some poison or special weapon and kill you."

"Stop that, everything turned out fine in the end, ok?"

"Please don't put me through that again."

"No promises, Sasuke."

"But you're really ok, right?"

"He hit like a bitch, Sasuke, I'm fine."

We shared a laugh over that before lying in wait for the police to arrive. Within 5 minutes, cops and ambulances had arrived, sealing off the scene. They were followed shortly by the press, who the cops were struggling to keep in control. Grace Hargreaves was taken to the hospital to be evaluated while Sasori was taken to the hospital separately for obvious reasons. Sakura had been cleared by the medics and was currently resting her head on my shoulder with a blanket draped over her while we sat on the edge of the ambulance.

"Well done, you two," the commissioner congratulated after dealing with all of the press.

"Glad to help, sir, though we wish we could've helped the first two victims as well," Sakura told the man.

"No, you've done more than enough. Both of you have mine and the city's gratitude, we can't thank you enough for this."

"Oh, u-um," Sakura stammered, surprised by his praise.

"Thank you, we were just doing our job," I told the Commissioner.

"May I ask how it happened?"

"We tracked him down here after I spotted a clue in Hargreaves' apartment. Once we got here we found him and Hargreaves. She knocked him out while I got Hargreaves. Rest is history," I told the old man.

"Ms. Haruno took him down?" The man asked, a little surprised.

"That's not a problem, is it?" She asked him jokingly. The man threw his head back and laughed before addressing us again.

"You are one incredible young woman," The man cried out in between laughs.

"Don't stroke her ego," I muttered. She just smiled up at me, still resting her head on my shoulder.

"My god, you two remind me so much of my dear wife and I," the old commissioner mused. "Anyways, you're free to go after you fill out some papers back at the station."

"We'll go in a couple minutes," I told the man. He nodded and went back to handling the press, job never stops for a Police Commissioner. We sat there on the edge of the ambulance in a comfortable silence, just basking in each other's presence for a bit.

"Let's go, sooner we get this done, sooner we can sleep," I said after a couple of minutes.

"I can't walk, I'm wounded," Sakura replied, unmoving.

"Wow, it seems you've discovered a mysterious injury right when we have to leave, Sakura. How unfortunate and convenient."

"Both of my legs are broken, Sasuke. What ever will we do?" She responded cheerfully. I sighed and picked her up, carrying her all the way to our car while she grinned and settled in my arms.

"You're such a child," I muttered.

"Oh shut up," she responded. I placed her into the passenger seat before going to the driver's seat and starting the car up. I drove back to the station, where the both of us were given hero's welcomes once we entered the building. I just did my best to not scowl at everyone while Sakura just smiled at everyone. Eventually they stopped and we were free to go up to our office where there was a folder of forms we had to fill out to make this whole thing official. Sakura and I split the pile and finished up in about 20 minutes. It was just questions and who arrested him and if everything was done in the confines of the law, the usual stuff.

Once we finished all that up, we were technically free to go, but there was still some business to attend to.

"I'm going to talk to Sasori," I told Sakura.

"Are you sure?"

"Might as well.

"Ok, let's go."

"You don't have to come."

"I know."

With that, we were off. I drove through the city's revived streets since the curfew was lifted. People weren't scared anymore and the night life of Baton Rouge could continue forward and past Sasori. It was good to see everyone out again, the place seemed like a ghost town for the past week because of all this.

"You know it looks good with all the lights on," Sakura murmured.

"Yeah," I agreed.

A little while later I pulled into the hospital's parking lot. Sakura and I got out and walked towards the gray 5-story building. We flashed our badges to the nurses who led us to the room they were keeping Sasori on, all the way on the top floor. There were 2 guards outside the door with pump-action shotguns at the ready, they were packing some firepower. I opened the door to see 2 more guards on the other side also carrying shotguns.

"Take a walk," I told them before closing the door, leaving Sasori with me and Sakura.

"They've got me locked up tightly," Sasori said with that creepy smile of his. His nose was bandaged up and he had multiple bruises on his face. His arm was also wrapped in a cast and lifted up while his head was wrapped in a bandage as well from a concussion.

"You look so stupid right now," I chuckled.

"Sakura, my dear! So good to see you!" The redhead greeted, ignoring my comment.

"What happened to you, Sasori? Looks like someone beat the shit out of you," she taunted, smirking at him. His calm demeanor vanished, replaced with a hateful look on his face.

"That's not funny, Sakura," he said.

"Got anything to say to me?" I asked the bedridden Akatsuki member.

"The next two work in a pair, that's it." With that, he sank back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

I nodded to Sakura and we left the room. The next two are a pair, so I might be fighting them with Sakura at my side if it becomes a 2-on-2. Those are good odds for us, now we wait. They might announce their arrivals like Deidara or get my attention through murdering like Sasori, either way, those were 2 Akatsuki members down. We rode the elevator down and walked back to our car only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

"Ah, its you two, so you'll be gone tomorrow, right?" The Commissioner asked.

"Yes, our flight leaves at 10 AM," Sakura answered.

"I see, well it was a pleasure meeting you two." He extended his hand and shook both of ours before going towards the hospital. We got into our car and I drove away from the city.

"I'm so tired," Sakura yawned.

"Yeah, yeah."

I drove back to our hotel, reaching there in a little bit. It was almost 11 PM by that time, so mostly everyone had called it a night at the small place.

"Finally," Sakura and I muttered at the same time as we made it to our door. I unlocked the door and we made our way inside.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower," Sakura told me as I sat on the bed. She disappeared into the bathroom, reemerging 10 minutes later, her hair wet. I went in after her, cleaning my body and hair before drying myself and leaving with some pants on. She was already under the covers, waiting for me.

"Set an alarm?" I asked. She nodded in response. I got under the covers and collapsed onto the bed. She curled up and laid her head on my chest while letting out a content sigh.

"Good night, Sasuke," she whispered.

"Good night."


	23. Day Off

**LEMONS AHEAD**

"Sasuke, get up," I heard her say to me. I blinked my eyes open to see her move to turn off her phone's alarm.

"5 minutes."

"I'll get ready first, but you have to get up after I'm done."

"Hn." She got up and left for the bathroom while I laid there lazily. I didn't fall back asleep so I just laid there, waiting for Sakura to finish up in the bathroom. It was 8:30 in the morning, we had slept for about 9 hours, though we'll probably go back to sleep once we get home. Yesterday, hell this entire week, had been draining. I realized that Sakura was probably more tired than me since she fought Sasori yesterday, but she still let me rest some more.

I realize now that I'm kind of an asshole for making her go first.

I got up and gathered some clothes when I heard the shower turn off. I went in after she came out and looked at myself in the mirror while I brushed my teeth. My hair was its usual spiky mess and my eyes were tired, still in need of some rest. I finished up and stripped off my clothes before stepping into the shower. The warm water fell over me as I washed myself for a while before stepping out and drying myself. I slipped on a hoodie and some pants and exited the bathroom to be greeted by Sakura and our bags.

"I packed your stuff," she told me with a small smile. I nodded and grabbed our stuff as we exited the room. I stuffed our bags in the trunk of our car while Sakura dropped the key off at the front desk. Once she got back, we got into the car and drove off to the airport. As we drove, she looked out of the window, absorbing all she could about the area.

"You really like it here that much?" I asked her.

"Not really," she said, turning to me, "I like that we made a difference."

"A lot of it was you, you know."

"That's not true, the entire PD was on this. The Commissioner, even as old as he is, was working alongside all of us," she took my free hand in hers, "you did a lot too, Sasuke."

"Ok, I get it, group effort and all that."

"Exactly!"

"Don't yell I'm still half-asleep."

"Sorry," she apologized before looking out the window again. We reached the airport 5 minutes later and dropped the car off before going inside. We passed through security rather quickly and made it to our gate at 9:40 AM, 20 minutes before boarding started.

"You know we could've slept for 20 more minutes if you were better with time," I told Sakura, who stuck out her tongue at me in response. We made our way to some empty seats in front of our gate and settled down. I felt my my phone ring as I went to sit down and saw Naruto's name ring across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sasuke!"

"Is there a reason you called?"

"I need a reason to call my best friend?"

"Forget it, what is it?"

"You sound like you're falling asleep."

"I pretty much am. I'm tired as hell."

"I saw the news, figured I'd call about it. You and Sakura are really good at catching bad guys!"

"Thanks, is that all?"

"Why won't you talk to me, you jerk!"

"Cause you keep yelling at me."

"I do not!"

"You just yelled that sentence."

"You know I'm a loud person!"

"Unfortunately."

"Whatever, see you when you get back!"

The blonde hung up the phone as I slumped back in my seat. However, I saw a couple of kids staring at me with a newspaper in their hands. I saw the front page of the paper and realized why these kids were staring at me. The front page was a picture of me and Sakura at the amusement park after arresting Sasori. It was a picture of Sakura leaning on my shoulder with a blanket draped over her while the commissioner was talking to us. The title read "Savior's of Baton Rouge". The boy and girl got up and walked over to me and Sakura holding the newspaper.

"Excuse me," the young girl started. Sakura turned her head around and smiled at the girl before kneeling down in front of her.

"Can we help you?" The pinkette asked.

"Me and my brother were wondering, are you the people on the paper?" The girl held up the paper so that Sakura could see.

"Yes, that's us," she responded.

"Wow! That's so cool!" The little girl gushed as she started barraging Sakura with questions. I laid my head back and let Sakura take care of the questions since that stuff was never a strength of mine. However, the little boy had other plans.

"Did you really catch the bad guy?" He asked me.

"Yeah, kid," I answered.

"Wow..." He trailed off. I looked down and saw admiration in his eyes as he stared at me.

"Oh! We're so sorry!" A man and woman, presumably these kids' parents, came up to us. "We hope they didn't bother you."

"Not at all!" Sakura answered politely.

"Zachary, Samantha, let's go," their father told them while still apologizing to us.

"Wait!" The little boy cried out, hugging my leg, surprising me and his parents. "You're a hero, mister! When I grow up, I wanna be just like you!" He shouted. I didn't know how to respond to him, how do you respond to something like that. Yet, I surprised myself when I reached my hand out and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Be better than me," I told him. He nodded happily and went back to his waiting parents. They walked away but the boy turned looked back at me and waved with a huge grin on his face.

"That was sweet," The pinkette next to me told me.

"Hn."

Soon after, boarding for our flight began. Sakura and I gathered our belongings and waited in line before getting to our seats in the plane.

"I'm ready to go home," she yawned as she laid her head onto my shoulder.

"Me too," I replied with my own yawn before closing my eyes as the plane took off from land.

...

"Sasuke."

I blinked my eyes open to see Sakura looking up at me. I looked around to see that most of the plane was empty.

"Where'd everyone go?" I asked her as I rubbed my eyes.

"They already got off."

"Oh."

"We should probably get off, too."

We got up from our seats and grabbed our bags before exiting the almost empty aircraft.

"We're did we park?" She asked me as we exited the airport and walked towards the parking lot.

"C6, I think." We walked to the area where I believed we had parked and found Sakura's Toyota waiting for us. I loaded our bags into the trunk while she started the car up, firing up the engine and shaking the cobwebs off. I settled into the passenger seat and she drove off.

"Still tired?" She asked as I gazed out of window.

"Not anymore," I answered as I enjoyed the sunlight Jacksonville provided me with. Baton Rouge was always cloudy, which is a fine change of pace, but I grew up under the Jacksonville sun.

"Good, cause we have paperwork tomorrow."

I groaned and slouched back into the seat. "Did you have to remind me?"

"Sorry," she giggled as we stopped at a red light.

"We deserve a day off for catching Sasori, this is bullshit."

"Stop whining, Sasuke."

"This is all your fault."

"Oh? Care to explain how?"

"If you had just knocked him out and hid him somewhere until Friday we could've just come back on a weekend."

"So if I had just killed him and hid his body for a couple of days, we could've come back on a Friday, what a perfect plan!"

"I don't enjoy your sarcasm."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, can you forgive me?"

I growled at her in return as she pulled into the parking lot. We took our bags and walked up the stairs to the apartment. We were finally home and I could relax for the rest of the day. I threw my bags into my room and collapsed onto the couch face first while Sakura laid her bags down and sat next to me.

"Want some food?" She asked me as she turned on the TV and got up. I caught her arm and pulled her back down.

"I'll order something," I told her as I grabbed my phone. She sat down and flipped through some channels.

"Order pizza," I heard her mutter.

"Your wish is my command," I responded, dialing the number of the nearest local place. For a little bit we just laid there, watching some random movie while we waited for nourishment to arrive. Finally being able to relax was a nice change of pace for both of us after the last week. After a half-hour, I buzzed the delivery guy in and collected our food from him.

"Finally, I'm starving," she gushed as I set down the box on the table. She got some orange juice from the fridge for herself while handing me a beer.

She knew me so well.

I flipped the cap off and drained half the bottle in one gulp.

"Don't drink too fast," she scolded.

"I do what I want," I muttered in response. She rolled her eyes and sat back, leaning on me for support as her emerald eyes sparkled up at me.

...

I opened my eyes to see almost complete darkness surrounding me. The only bright thing in the room was the bundle of pink on my shoulder, but her eyes were closed. We must've fallen asleep on the couch without even realizing it. The TV was still on, playing a detective movie. I carefully reached for my phone and checked the time. It was 1 AM, we had been sleeping for a while. I guess I was still tired, though I thought for sure that I was awake before we had gotten our food.

Maybe the pizza guy drugged our food or something, it wouldn't be the first time someone tried poisoning my food.

Seriously, Kakashi's cooking was so bad I was sure he was secretly trying to kill me.

I laid my head back and stared at the ceiling, recounting mine and Sakura's encounters with the Akatsuki. In Fort Myers, Deidara almost killed me and Sakura with an explosive he had put together in the spur of the moment. He only had a couple of minutes at best to assemble it, yet it still almost got the job done, I had to admit that was impressive. Still, it failed in the end and I beat Deidara in a battle where he literally tried to blow up a building onto me. He warned me about future dangers, and he wasn't lying. Sasori lured us to Baton Rouge by brutally murdering two men and almost killing Grace Hargreaves. Sakura knocked him out in a fight and he told us that the next two work in a pair. That was just yesterday.

It occurred to me that only Sakura and I were aware of the danger the Akatsuki posed to us and those around us. Deidara warned me not to get the FBI or police involved, but I had to tell Naruto and Kakashi, maybe even the others since the Akatsuki might use them to lure me out. I had to tell them as soon as possible, maybe the next time we get together at Minato and Kushina's house would be a good time since we would all be there.

"Sasuke?" I heard her voice say.

"I'm here," I murmured.

"Did we fall asleep on the couch?"

"We did."

"Oh," she responded while rubbing her eyes.

"Bed?"

"Yeah."

We got up and dragged our tired bodies to the bed, dropping ourselves onto the soft mattress. She settled in close to me as I draped my arm around her.

"Good night," She whispered as we drifted off.

...

The alarm was not a welcome sound for me or Sakura. Neither of us wanted to budge when the alarm bell sounded across the room.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Can we stay home today?"

"Yeah." I reached over and turned my phone's alarm off before settling back into bed.

...

The next time I woke up I could tell that it was at least 12 PM from the amount of sunlight in our room. I definitely wasn't tired anymore, though that didn't mean I felt like getting up. I just laid there for 10 minutes, savoring the comfort of my own bed and the sweet smell of cherries coming from the girl next to me. I checked my phone and saw that I had a couple of missed calls from Jugo, but I couldn't be bothered to call him back right now. Instead I gave my attention to the waking pinkette.

"Morning," she whispered to me as she stirred.

"Afternoon," I answered.

"What?!" She yelled in shock, sitting up and scrambling to check her phone. "It's 12:30!" She exclaimed, gazing at me with wide eyes.

"Congratulations, you can tell time," I muttered.

"We're late for work!" She cried out.

"Well you're the one who wanted to skip work."

"Huh?"

"You asked me if we could stay home and we did, so calm down."

"B-but-"

I pulled her down onto my lips and held her there for a bit before letting go.

"Relax," I told her.

"I just don't want to be fired."

"Do you really think Ibiki would fire the girl who took down Sasori of the Red Sand or the guy who took down Deidara?"

"But what if he does?"

"The higher-ups wouldn't let that happen, besides Ibiki knows if he ever tried to fire me I would kill him with my bare hands."

She laughed and settled back next to me, taking hold of my arm. I locked eyes with her and found myself being taken prisoner by her emerald orbs. Her eyes shone back at me, entrancing me in them as I laid there next to her.

"You know you're the only man I've ever seen that can be classified as beautiful," she whispered to me, bringing a rush of heat to my face.

"Um, yeah," I responded, trying to hide the blush that covered my entire face. But when she started laughing I knew I didn't hide it well enough to escape her attention.

"Aw, Sasuke," she cooed while pinching my cheek.

"Ow! Stop it!" I protested, blushing even harder. She laughed in response, knowing that I would react like this. She calmed down after that and we laid there together. I twirled her pink hair around my fingers as she tucked her head under my chin.

"Taking the day off was a good idea," she sighed contently.

"It was," I agreed.

"We should probably get up at some point, though."

"Later."

"Later," she echoed as she leaned up and met my lips. I responded automatically, slipping my tongue inside of her mouth, eliciting a moan from her. Our lips stayed together as I moved on top of her. She hooked my boxers with her feet and kicked them off of me, drawing a chuckle from me in the process. She moved against my mouth fervently as I removed her undergarments, leaving nothing covering her forbidden fruit. I could tell she was ready from her movements, how she raised her hips and pulled me into an even deeper cry. I traced her slit with my fingers while using my free hand to remove her bra and throw the obstacle aside.

Her body bucked when I slipped my fingers inside of her. She moaned as my lips encompassed her breasts. Her body responded to my every touch while my name was all she could moan.

"Don't sto-oh, oh, Sasuke," she whispered as I found her sweet spot. I moved up and planted kisses on her neck, nibbling a little bit here and there.

"Sasuke, I'm gonna-" She started, but I cut her off with my lips and removed my fingers.

"Not yet," I whispered into her ear before looking her in the eyes and smirking. She opened her mouth to protest, but I quickly sealed it with my still smirking lips. "Sakura," I whispered, positioning my hands on the bed, "Can you answer something for me?" She nodded, biting her lower lip.

I leaned in close and laid my forehead on hers before asking my question.

"Are you mine?"

Her mouth curved upwards and her eyes shimmered as she cradled my face with her soft hands.

"Only if you're mine," she whispered back before pulling me down onto her lips. We kissed as I opened her legs and positioned myself, my member aching for her. Once she let my lips go free, I whispered only one word.

"Good."

She silently screamed as I went inside of her. Immediately, her arms went around me so that she could steady herself. I drove into her again, causing her to shut her eyes and wrap her legs around my waist. I claimed her lips with mine and went in again and again, absorbing all of her moans and cries as her hands grabbed my hair.

"Oh!" She yelled out, not able to keep herself mute any longer. She dug her nails into my back as her cries grew more frequent.

"Sasuke!" Her muffled voice cried out as she almost screamed into my mouth, "I'm gonna cum!"

She covered her mouth with both hands as she finished, keeping her noises so that only the two of us could hear them. She was panting heavily, like she had just ran a marathon without breaks, but I could still make out what she was saying.

"Again," she breathed, gasping for air.

"My pleasure," I replied, flipping her over. And just like that, we were at it again. I held her in place while she dug her face into a pillow to silence herself. I drove into her harder and faster than before, eliciting quite loud reactions from the pinkette. If she didn't have her face buried in a pillow, the entire floor would've woken up and yelled at us. I grunted and growled as I secured my hands onto her back to keep myself upright. I went in particularly hard one time, causing Sakura to bolt upright and throw her head back in a silent scream. I covered her mouth with one hand and used the other to secure her against me while I, to put it into Leonardo DiCaprio's words, fucked her goddamn brains out.

I'm just being honest.

"Sasuke," she gasped, letting me know that she was nearing completion. When I went in again, she gasped loudly and covered the hand I had over her mouth with her own. Her walls suffocated my member to the point where I finished with her, gasping for oxygen. She collapsed onto the bed face first with me following right after. She winced as I removed myself from her and rolled off of her. We laid there until our breathing was good enough so that we weren't literally gasping for oxygen.

She laid her head onto my chest as I returned to twirling her pink locks with my finger.

"This is my favorite thing to do," she said after a little bit.

"Laying on me while I play with your hair?"

"Being with you."

"Yeah I guess being with you is pretty cool sometimes," I replied sarcastically. She smacked my arm but laughed while she did so. Of course I was joking, she makes everything better, anyone who knew her would say that. She leaned up and pressed her lips to my cheek before getting up.

"I'm going to shower," she declared while stretching her limbs. She opened the door but didn't go inside. "Are you coming?" She asked with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. I smirked and rose from the bed, following her inside.


	24. Day Off (cont)

She laughed uncontrollably at my powder-covered face while I glared daggers at her. We were making pancakes for breakfast and I was opening the packet of powder while she heated the pan on the oven. But once I had opened it, she smacked the packet on the sides, causing the powder to fly up and assault my face. So she was tearing up while I looked like a ghost, but I refuse to take this abuse without retaliation. So I went over to the fridge, pulled out a trusty tomato, and launched it at her, hitting her right in the stomach.

"Sasuke! This is a new shirt!"

"Maybe you should've thought about that before attacking me."

"You could've just washed your face!"

"Well you can just wash your shirt."

"Don't make me throw more powder onto you, you overgrown child."

"I am not a child."

"Keep telling yourself that, Uchiha."

"Stop insulting me, woman."

"Child."

"I am vengeance."

She laughed at that one while I went over to the sink and washed the powder off of my face. She removed her shirt and replaced it with another as I continued making our 1 PM breakfast.

"I'll do it, you'll mess it up," she told me as she moved in front of me.

"You don't have to be so straightforward about it," I muttered as I laid my forehead onto the back of her head. She turned around and captured my lips in apology before turning back. 15 minutes later, we sat down to fill our empty stomachs with some nourishment. We crashed on the couch and watched the news while we ate, catching up on some of the world's events. She rested her head on my shoulder like usual while I twirled her hair, a new habit I had picked up.

We watched TV for a couple hours until a knock sounded at the door followed by a "OPEN UP, SASUKE!"

There was only one person it could be.

The blonde charged in as soon as I opened the door, along with everyone else except for his parents and Kakashi.

"Please come in," I muttered in annoyance as they barged in.

"Not like you would've let us in," Neji responded.

"That's the point," I told him.

"Stop being so hateful, Sasuke," Kiba told me.

"Yeah!" Ino agreed. I sighed and shut the door, resigning myself to fate. They all settled on the couch or pulled the chairs from my dining table, leaving me to stand.

I could have them all arrested for trespassing right now, the bastards.

"So Sasuke, how'd you take down Sasori?" Naruto asked right away. I stared at him in annoyance because he immediately assumed it was me who took him down.

"She did," I answered. Immediately, all eyes in the room fell on the pinkette.

"Um, I-I," she stammered, looking to me for support. I just smirked and shrugged my shoulders at her.

"Whoa, Sakura! You're amazing!" Ino blurted out, followed by everybody else. Sakura just nodded and smiled, embarrassed by all the attention she was receiving.

"How'd ya do it?" Naruto questioned along with the rest of them. The interrogation had begun. They barraged her with questions, asking her how she did it, if she got hurt, all that stuff. After about 5 minutes, the pinkette covered her ears with her hands in despair.

"ASK SASUKE!" She cried out hysterically, begging me with her eyes. I didn't blame her, I usually just kept quiet and gave everyone my coveted death stare if they kept asking questions. One look and it shut them up, such is my demonic power.

"Come on, Sasuke, you never tell us anything," Kiba begged.

"Yeah we want some details," Shikamaru added.

"Please?" Naruto asked, getting on his knees and clasping his hands together. I sighed and relented, guess there's no harm in telling them about it.

"Found him at an old amusement park his parents used to work at. Had a girl strung up on a ride ready to rip her in half, hostage situation. I get ready to fight but the guy goes on about how he wants to make Sakura his masterpiece and demands her, not me. So they start throwing while I watch and get the woman out of the death contraption. This guy throws a shitload of punches and kicks, and he's fucking fast, but she manages to only get hit a couple times while the prick gasses himself out. Once he slows down, she catches his arm and smashes his nose with an elbow, then she knocks him down and I'm thinking it's over, but this red guy gets back to his feet and almost catches her. Next thing I see she punches him so hard the guy does a fucking flip. Now I'm thinking its really over, but this asshole pulls out a knife and almost kills Sakura, but she breaks his arm in three places and its over."

"Wow, Sakura, I'm never getting you mad," Naruto mumbled while the others just stared at her in awe. A silence falls over them and I'm thinking its because they're all shocked at how the sweet girl sitting there could've put this crazy redhead freak into the ground, but then the eyes turn to me for some reason.

"That's the most I've ever heard you talk, Sasuke," Naruto murmured like he was in shock. I sighed and shook my head, some things will never change. The conversation then diverts back to the pinkette as everyone praises her and all that while I stand there with my hands jammed in my pockets, annoyed that they were still here.

"So anyways, we were all gonna go get dinner together, you guys want to come?" Ino asked us.

"We'd love to, but we're kind of tired," Sakura answered for the both of us.

"You sure?" Naruto asked again, looking at me. I pointed my thumb towards the door in response and said 4 words.

"Get the fuck out."

After they left, I fell onto the couch and rested my head on Sakura's legs. She ran her fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp. A comfortable silence fell over us as I relaxed and closed my eyes for a bit.

"I'm gonna get started on dinner," she told me as I sat up. However, once she got up, I pulled her back down onto me and leaned in real close, less than an inch from her lips.

"I got a better idea," I whispered. She closed the distance between us, securing her arms around me while I gripped her hips. I groaned lowly as her lips meshed with mine and her hands went to my hair, messing it up even more than usual. She moaned as I slipped my tongue into her welcoming mouth, moving inside of her like a serpent. She gasped audibly when I nibbled on her pulse and kissed it before moving back to her swollen lips, pulling on them as I kissed her. She leaned her forehead against mine and locked gazes with me. It was like the first time I looked into those eyes, her gaze was entrancing, it was as if her emerald irises put me under a spell.

Her hand went to my cheek as she smiled that addicting smile, the one that made my heartbeat go haywire. I could only stare breathlessly at her beautiful form as her breathing evened out and she brought both hands to cradle my face. It was strange, how she got my heart going crazy, how she made my stomach do flips. It was strange because she was wearing an oversized sweater and sweats that looked a size too big for her, it was strange because she didn't have any makeup or whatever girls put on their faces on her, it was strange because she hadn't even done anything to her hair, just tied it up in a high ponytail after combing it a little, though some rogue strands still fell over her face. It was strange because she wasn't even trying to look good, she just did, she didn't need to try.

But that's what love is isn't it? Don't matter what she's wearing or what she does to her hair, all that matters is that she's perfect, regardless of all that. That's what she was to me, the woman who takes care of me and loves me, she was perfect.

"What's the matter?" She whispered softly, her hands still cradling my face. I covered them with mine and smiled at her.

"I love you. Don't ever forget it."

She smiled and covered my lips with her own in response.

"I won't."

Her fingers went down to the waistband of my pants as our lips clashed again. She pulled them down and I kicked them off along with my boxers. I latched my fingers onto her undergarments and slowly took them off while she pressed a flurry of kisses to my neck. Her clothing covering her forbidden fruit, the last obstacle, was off. Our breathing quieted down as we anticipated the sensation ready to overtake our bodies. She positioned herself right over me while I kept her steady with my hands.

In one swift motion, she took in my member, gasping as it went all the way into her. Her walls tightened around me, causing me to grunt at the newfound tightness around my length.

"Fuck," I growled as she moved up and down, satisfying my body. She threw her head back in ecstasy, giving me access to her neck again. I ran my lips from her jawline down to her neck and then to her collarbone. She smothered my lips with her own, keeping her voice down so that only I could hear it.

"Oh, Sasuke," she moaned, constricting my member while she did it. I shut my eyes tightly and suppressed a groan, opting to use my hand and keep her kissing me while using the other to secure her body. I noticed her hands gripping my shoulders tighter with each movement until she moved them back to my hair.

"Fuck, Sasuke," she uttered, increasing her movement and closing her eyes. She came with a hoarse cry, but not before squeezing her walls around my one more time, sending a grimace to my face as I spilled myself into her for the second time this day. She leaned her forehead against mine for support as both of us searched for our breath. Our foreheads were covered with sweat and some of her hair clung to her forehead.

"God," she breathed out, bringing a smirk to my face. She got off of me and collapsed next to me, prompting me to do the same. We laid on the couch, half-naked, for maybe 10 minutes while we caught our breath.

"I'm gonna shower and make some food," she said, getting up and grabbing some clothes before disappearing into the bathroom. I took off my shirt and collected all my clothes while I waited for her to finish washing up. Once she finished I got some fresh clothes and walked to the bathroom.

"Water's still wa-" She began until her eyes widened when she saw me waiting for her.

"You've already seen all of this so stop staring and let me in."

She moved aside but kept her eyes trained on me, drawing a smirk from me. I closed the door and hopped in to clean myself. 5 minutes later I emerged a fresher man with the aroma of fresh food filling my nose while the sound of music entered my ears. I put on some pants and walked out to see her flipping something in a pan while nodding her head along to the music. She turned to me and I saw her eyes wander around my shirtless body and my face before she bit her lower lip and turned away.

"You are one good-looking human being, Uchiha."

"That's a very true statement," I replied.

"Cockiness isn't attractive though."

"I'm not being cocky, I'm just verifying a fact that you stated."

She rolled her eyes as I walked over to help her out. We finished up in the kitchen and made our way to the couch where we ate and relaxed for a couple hours before calling it a night. We settled into bed early since we had work tomorrow. Probably had stacks of papers to fill out, being grumpy on top of that would just be a bad situation.


	25. Moving Out

When the alarm rang, I wanted to throw my phone out the window. When I was showering, I wanted to lay down and fall asleep under the water. When I was eating my breakfast, I wanted to watch TV. When I was brushing my teeth, I wanted to go back to bed. I know I sleep a good amount, but I've had insomnia ever since I was 12 and it only went away recently cause of Sakura. Basically, I had years of sleep to catch up on, so forgive me for being tired. She wasn't tired, she was happy as always, the crazy woman.

Who in their right mind can smile at 7 AM?

We went to the car and took off for work, reaching the station with barely any time to spare. We made our way inside and up to our floor, where we were greeted with an unfamiliar tension in the air. It seemed off on there, everyone was almost silent, which was unusual for the place. Sakura glanced at me questioningly but I had no explanation for her. We went over to our desks and were almost immediately greeted by Jugo, who was sporting a couple of bandages on his face.

"The hell happened to your face?" I asked the big man.

"Hiruko," he answered.

"The man who came in recently?" Sakura inquired.

"That's the one, turns out he was a spy working for someone you two might know."

"I didn't trust him the second I saw him, something about him was off."

"Well you were right, once news spread about you two getting Sasori, Hiruko ran into the bathroom and started vomiting. I went in to check on him and he attacked me with a poisoned blade. Suigetsu heard us from outside and shot him in the stomach twice."

"You're ok, right?" Sakura asked him.

"I'm fine," he answered gratefully, thankful for her concern.

"How'd you figure out he worked for Sasori?"

"We swept his apartment and found a radio set on only one channel. We also found an encrypted laptop that took our techs hours to crack containing information on where bodies of people Sasori killed were buried as well as a chatroom with another user who we traced as Sasori. But that's not the part that we found interesting."

"What was?"

"I tried calling you yesterday but you didn't pick up."

"So?"

"On his laptop there was something else, future targets. Files included info on top business executives, daughters of politicians, some really big people, but there was someone else on the file, someone only Ibiki, Suigetsu, and I know of."

I had a feeling I knew who that person was, but I asked him anyways.

"Who?"

"You."

Sakura and I exchanged a knowing look that threw Jugo off-guard.

"You knew?"

I nodded in response.

"Wait, what? How?"

"It's best I explain it to all three of you," I replied while standing up. Sakura got up after me as Jugo went to get Suigetsu.

"Are you sure about this, Sasuke? The Akatsuki specifically said they didn't want the FBI or any other agency involved," The pinkette reminded me.

"I know, I'm only telling these three, the conversation won't leave Ibiki's office."

We walked on to our waiting boss's office, followed briefly by Jugo and Suigetsu.

"I don't know what you've been doing, Sasuke, but you've attracted the wrong crowd," Ibiki started.

"To be honest, I don't know why this crowd is attracted to me either."

"First Deidara, then Sasori, then this Hiruko turns out to pass all of our security protocols and become an agent, all three of these people are high-end criminals, the people that keep those in power awake at night. All three of these people have been apprehended and all three have on thing in common: you. Now I suspect from the bored look on your face that you knew all of this, so can you explain to me what the hell is going on?"

"First of all, these words never leave this room, is that clear?"

The other three men in the room exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.

"Hiruko is an underling of Sasori, in the grand scheme of things he's not important. Sasori and Deidara, however, are a different story. They are, or were, part of an elite criminal organization called the Akatsuki. Keep in mind that these people are so secretive that no major agencies know of them. They have connections everywhere to cover up their tracks, even police departments."

"How do you know?" Jugo asked.

"Back when we got Deidara, I talked to him alone in the interrogation room, no one listening from the outside or anything, just me and him with everyone else relying on only what I told them for information. He told me about the Akatsuki, yet that conversation hasn't made it to the public or even the police, how else could our entire conversation just disappear?"

"There's no way something of that magnitude wouldn't reach the press unless the evidence was cleaned up," Sakura added.

"Ok, so they have people everywhere and are a part of a criminal organization that no one knows about, but what does that have to do with you?" Suigetsu inquired.

"Well it turns out the Akatsuki have specific goals that their members work toward like assassinations. In this case, the target they want dead is me."

The three men's eyes widened simultaneously as expected. Ibiki blinked slowly and cleared his throat, regaining his composure while looking at me as if I was playing a joke on him.

"You're serious?" The scarred man asked.

"Yep."

"You're not just messing with us?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Don't know."

"How do you know?"

"Deidara."

"And you believe him?"

"Don't see why he would be lying, besides Sasori pretty much confirmed it."

"Holy shit."

"Yep."

"Ok, this is what we're going to do. Sasuke, I'm putting you in one of our safehouses," Ibiki told us.

"Pretty sure that counts as getting involved."

"No, only we know about this, I'm not reporting this to the higher ups, no one will know except for the people in this room."

"What about me?" Sakura asked.

"What about you?" Ibiki responded.

"You can't expect me to leave him alone."

"What're you talking about? Sasuke's always lived alone, he's used to it."

"Uh, boss?" Suigetsu piped in.

"What?"

"They've been living together," Jugo explained.

"Huh?"

"It's true," I confirmed.

"You mean you two are a thing?! I told you not to get distracted, Uchiha!"

"You're the one who wanted to give me a partner."

"Why can't you follow my instructions? I'm your boss for God's sake."

"Because I don't want to."

"Still, even if you two are together I can't permit both of you to leave."

"Mr. Morino?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"It wasn't a request," she told him while smiling. Poor Ibiki paled and tried looking to me for help.

"Don't look at me," I smirked.

"Alright fine," the man sighed in defeat, "I'll come up with something to cover up your disappearance. Jugo and Suigetsu will be staying at the station for the duration of however long this goes on, so if you need anything, contact them. Under no circumstances will you two ever leave that safehouse, are we clear?"

Sakura and I nodded our heads in response.

"Good, here you go," he said as he handed us a set of keys to our temporary new home, "They'll drive you to your place. Pack some clothes and toiletries and leave your cars there."

"Which safehouse you putting us in?" I asked.

"Lucis Tower."

"Seriously?"

"Lucis Tower," he repeated while handing me keys to our new place as well as a couple of fake ID cards for Sakura and I.

"Where's that?" Sakura asked.

"I'm in heaven," I sighed. Lucis Towers were where the rich lived, as in the really rich, and the FBI's place there was on the top floor too.

"Sasuke?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll understand when we get there," I responded.

"Alright, now go, make sure you're discreet as possible. Take the side entrance so no one sees you go in. Stay safe and good luck."

"Thank you!" Sakura chirped.

"See ya," I told the scarred man. With that, we walked out and to the elevator. We made our way out of the station and to Jugo's car. I kept my eye out for any tails but there were none. From my naked eye's perspective, we were clear, though that didn't rule out anyone watching us from afar. Jugo pulled into our garage after a little while. All 4 of us looked around but there was no one in sight, just empty cars.

"Let's go," Sakura told me. We exited quickly and entered the building avoiding every person we could. Once we made it up to our place, we quickly packed clothes and toothbrushes and any other necessities. We left the windows closed and left the place, entering the hallway while keeping an eye out for anyone. We had switched out our tops for hoodies to cover our identities better, so as we climbed down the stairs, we kept our faces hidden as best we could. Best not to let anyone see us leaving. Once we made it to Jugo's car, we threw our bags and ourselves in and removed the hoods.

"All good?" Suigetsu asked.

"We're good, take us to the Tower of Money," I told them.

"Bastard gets his life threatened and gets rewarded cause of it," Suigetsu mumbled.

"Not my fault I'm in high demand."

"I knew you would say that," Sakura said, shaking her head in disappointment.

"I'm just saying there's only one of me, that's not enough for everyone."

"Maybe we should just give you to the Akatsuki," she suggested, earning a glare from me. She grinned back at me victoriously while Jugo turned on the radio. After another 15 minutes went by, a bunch of skyscrapers became visible, but one stood out above the others. It was Lucis Tower, an enormous white building with golden and silver details painted onto it as well as a bunch of windows and balconies overlooking the beach and the city. When Jugo pulled into the garage, there was a security booth with a couple of guards manning it. They looked at Jugo's Toyota like it was trash, and when I looked into the garage, I could see why. It was littered with foreign cars, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, you name it, they got it.

The net worth of a couple of these cars could probably buy mine and Sakura's building and the property around it with cash left over.

"I'm sorry, sir, this is private property-" The guards began.

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and this is my wife and associates," I interrupted, giving him a pointed look while flashing mine and Sakura's fake ID cards. Kabuto Yakushi was the husband of Ibiki's closest friend, Anko Mitarashi, who moved away to New York City. They allowed Ibiki to put the FBI safehouse at the top of Lucis Tower under Kabuto's name as their connection to the Bureau is only known to few.

"Of course, sir and ma'am. Forgive me," the guard responded, opening the gate to us. Jugo drove inside and parked close to the elevator up. I put my key in and called the elevator down. Once it arrived, we went upwards to the 50th floor, where our safehouse was located. The elevator was lined with golden designs inside and a marble floor. It was one of those elevators that opened up right into the place, too, no doors required. This place was already impressive, and we hadn't even made it to our actual room yet. When the elevator opened, we were greeted with an enormous penthouse. The windows were giant, but they were closed off, so we couldn't see outside. It was a smart decision though because nobody could see us either. The maple wood floors were spotless, we could probably eat off of them. There was a rug in the middle of the area with two sofas facing a 4K Ultra HDTV. A round coffee table sat in front of each couch. A spherical chandelier hung above the area, making it look complete.

The kitchen counters were a clean and black granite while the cabinets were a pristine white. The faucet looked like it was made of bronze and the fridge was gigantic. However, when I opened the silver refrigerator, I found it empty, meaning we had some groceries to buy. There were a set of stairs across the entrance that led up to the bedroom and bathroom. A door led to the bathroom, which was complete with expensive checker-patterned tiles and a pearly white shower/bathtub and sink with a white toilet outlined in a silver and golden color. The bedroom didn't have a door or anything, it was just an open area with a huge king-sized bed as the centerpiece. Other than that, there was just a couple of dressers and a bedside lamp. The entire place was clean and well-kept, any person would dream of living here, to spend just one day here in this luxurious penthouse.

Yet, I didn't want to be here. It was all too much, I just wanted to be in my little apartment with Sakura and my best friend next door. This place wasn't home, even if it had the most expensive things anyone could afford, it wasn't for me.

"We'll go get you guys some food," Suigetsu announced, taking Jugo with him. I walked up the stairs and threw my bag aside before falling onto the bed with a sigh. The pinkette did the same thing, landing next to me on the enormous bed.

"We won't be here for that long, Sasuke," she told me.

"Hn."

"Turn that frown upside down."

I frowned even more when she said that, eliciting a laugh from her. She moved closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder.

"Think of it like a long vacation," she murmured.

"At least we don't have to wake up for work."

"Exactly. Look at you being positive."

I smirked as we lay there on the bed, waiting for Jugo and Suigetsu to return with our groceries.


	26. Everybody Knows

It had been over a week since Sakura and I had moved into the FBI safehouse. We spent our time just relaxing with each other, confined to the penthouse. Jugo and Suigetsu bought anything we needed for us, kind of like our own personal servants. It was nice here, and taking off from work was always a plus, though the threat that constantly loomed over us was definitely unwelcome. Talking about it with her was alright, even if she got all worrysome about my health, she was still easy to talk to. However, we'll be attending Minato and Kushina's weekly dinner via webcam since we can't leave Lucis Tower, and Sakura and I had resolved to tell them about our current situation. It wouldn't be easy, but it was necessary.

"It's almost time," she told me as she opened up the laptop.

"Yeah."

"We can't even tell them where we are."

"I know, but I guess the less they know, the better."

"Should we even be telling them about this in the first place?"

"Probably not."

"Ugh, this is hard."

"We'll be fine."

The icon for an incoming call appeared onscreen as I said that. Sakura glanced at me before accepting the call.

"Hi guys! Solve the case?" A cheerful Naruto greeted.

I had told him that we were on a case and in Arizona for the last week so that he wouldn't question our whereabouts, that's why he was asking about some case.

"Yeah, um, is everyone there?" I asked him.

"Pretty much, we're just waiting on Kakashi right now."

"How far is he?"

"Like 5 minutes."

"Tell him to hurry up, we gotta talk."

"You and Kakashi?"

"Everyone."

"For what?"

"Just tell him to hurry."

"Ok, Jesus."

I muted the chat and looked to the pinkette who grasped my hand out of view from the camera. After a little while, Kakashi had finally arrived, completing the group. Naruto set the laptop so that we were overlooking the table and in view of everyone.

"Hi, you two!" They greeted, smiling widely at us.

"Hi!" Sakura greeted back while I offered a nod.

"How's the case?" Minato asked us.

"We...uh...solved it actually," Sakura replied.

"That's wonderful!" Kushina exclaimed.

"So, how are you guys?" Sakura asked, quickly diverting the center of discussion.

The entire group engaged in a lengthy conversation with her while I sat there, contemplating on whether I should tell them about the Akatsuki or not. A plus is that they would know about mine and Sakura's current predicament, and if the Akatsuki tried using them to lure us out, they would be better prepared. Though none of them except for Kakashi and Naruto have been trained in martial arts, and only some of them can handle a gun, so they would be vulnerable even if they knew the Akatsuki were after them. However, if I didn't tell them, they wouldn't be burdened with this information. After all, there was no guarantee that the Akatsuki would come after them anyways.

I sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course the Akatsuki would come after them, that's pretty much a given, it was stupid of me to think otherwise for even a second. That pretty much leaves me with no choice. There was no hiding this, and the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me.

"So the guy went all in and thought he won, but-" Kiba was saying.

"There's something you all need to know," I interrupted.

The table fell silent and the girl next to me gave me a look that was asking, "Are you sure?". I nodded to her and sat up, running my hands through my hair and sighing heavily again.

"There's no easy way to put this," I began, "so here it goes. First of all, there was never a case that Sakura and I went on, that was a lie."

"What?" Naruto and Kakashi asked simultaneously while the rest of them looked at each other in confusion.

"Shut up and let me finish," I told them before continuing, "Second of all, Deidara and Sasori were both part of a criminal group known as the Akatsuki. The group is made up of elite criminals and specializes in chaos and mass murder. They also target specific people when it suits them."

"Sasuke, why are you telling us all of this? What's going on?" Kakashi asked.

"They are currently targeting me. That's why Sakura and I are in an FBI safehouse."

"What?! Why would they want you dead?!" Kushina half-yelled.

"I don't know, yet. They also went to extreme measures to ensure that outside interference would be limited, so don't even bother trying to get the FBI or anyone else, it's too risky."

There was a pindrop silence after that. No one said a word for a minute until Naruto spoke.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?" He questioned me.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I snarled at him, catching even myself off guard with my sudden hostility.

"Calm down, Sasuke," the pinkette next to me whispered. I took a deep breath and relaxed myself before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but this isn't a joke. I'm currently a target, that's why we've been gone."

Again, silence followed. I didn't want to ruin the mood or anything, but there wasn't much of a choice.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Minato asked us after a while.

I pinched the bridge of nose again, this was the hard part.

"All of you could be in danger because you know me, so the Akatsuki could use any of you as bait," I told them.

"W-what?" Ino stammered.

"Yes that makes sense," Kakashi concluded, "using those who are close to you is the best strategy."

"So what do we do?" Neji inquired.

"For now, it would be best if you all stayed together under one roof, that way no one will be an easy target. Minato and Kushina, is it ok if they stay in your guest rooms?"

"Yes, of course," they replied immediately.

"Ok, then I need all of you to go back home and pack everything you need as quickly as possible then come back immediately. I'll give you Jugo and Suigetsu's numbers, they'll get you anything else you need from now on. Only talk to them or us, contact no one else under no circumstances," I told them.

They nodded in return and another silence followed for another minute before I spoke up.

"I'm sorry, all of you are in danger because of me, and I'm sorry, but this all for your safety," I said.

"Don't apologize, Sasuke, we got your backs no matter what," Naruto reassured me, his trademark grin returning to his face.

"Yeah, man, we understand, you don't gotta apologize for anything," Kiba seconded.

"We're here for you," Hinata assured.

"Yeah!" Ino supported.

"You'd do the same for us," Shikamaru said.

"One question, though," Minato inquired, "isn't the technology you and Sakura are using trackable?"

"No, all the stuff here is on an encrypted server," Sakura answered for me.

I couldn't answer because I was kind of confused at the moment. I had underestimated them, all of them were encouraging me and supporting me, even though I was responsible for all this mess. I had surrounded myself with good people, that was for sure.

"Let's go guys!" Naruto shouted, "we'll meet back here as soon as possible!"

They all echoed in agreement before getting up and leaving the table to gather their things. I stared in shock as Kushina and Minato shouted about getting their rooms ready as well as grabbing some movies to watch. What's going on right now?

"Hey, kid," Kakashi's voice snapped me out of my daze, "be safe out there. I'll coordinate the PD to be on the lookout for new arrivals from the airport and to keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals. You know what the rest of the Akatsuki looks like?"

"No, on the Most Wanted list only their names are listed because we don't have any recent photos of them, but the Akatsuki consists of the FBI's Most Wanted."

"Alright, then I'll circulate their names. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine as long as we're in Minato's mansion. The security guards he's got are no joke."

"You kidding? I could've taken those idiots out when I was in high school."

"Thanks for reassuring me."

"Oh yeah, sorry."

"Alright, make sure you stay off the radar. If these guys want you dead so bad then they'll have to come here, that's when we'll get them, until then, just relax and don't worry about a thing."

"Be discreet. Don't circulate anything with their names in it. Just tell the police to keep a closer eye out to ensure another bombing like Deidara's doesn't happen. Keep the Akatsuki name a secret."

"Relax, I won't mention any Akatsuki. I'll just say to be alert in order to avoid another situation like Deidara's. I'll contact all my techs personally and tell them to look for any suspicious activity or individuals. I can handle this perfectly, it's what I'm here for."

"You gonna keep me safe, old man?"

"Keeping you safe is what I've been doing for all these years, Sasuke. I think I've gotten pretty good at it."

"Don't get sentimental, you still got a couple of decades before that."

"Whatever, kid, talk to you later."

"Make sure you double the patrols in your area."

"Oh yeah, good call."

I reached out and clicked off the call before slumping back in my seat. She massaged my scalp while I closed my eyes and laid my head on her shoulder.

"That went better than expected," she pointed out.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"As long as they stay together, the Akatsuki will have a hard time getting to them without setting off any alarms. But didn't they say if any law enforcement get involved they'll detonate those chemical weapons?"

"I trust Kakashi to keep things discreet, he knows how to run a police department better than anyone in the world. All the cops there admire him like he's their hero or something."

"Really? What'd he do to earn so much respect?"

"He just gets things done. He took only 6 months to go from cop to detective and has one of the highest arrest records of a homicide detective, second only to mine and Naruto's. He's also got a reputation for keeping a cool head under even the most stressful situations."

"Really?"

"Every hostage situation he's been in charge of has never failed, meaning he's never lost a hostage. He's the one who encouraged me to do law enforcement."

"I've never heard you talk about him so highly before, Sasuke."

"What can I say? I can't deny the fact that he's the best at what he does."

"Have you ever told him that?"

"No and if you tell him I'll throw you out the window, Haruno."

She giggled in response and switched on the TV.

"If they're gonna watch some movies, we might as well, too," she announced as she scrolled through the channels.

"Hn. I'll get the food," I told her as I got up and walked to the kitchen.

"I already made food, it's in the fridge. Heat it up a bit."

I did as I was told, returning with a couple of plates and forks along with a tray of some new Italian looking dish she had made with a name I didn't even try to pronounce. It had tomatoes, so I wasn't about to complain about it as she put on some movie with an evil looking bunny and Jake Gyllenhaal.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Donnie Darko," I heard her say.

"Bonnie Barko?"

"Donnie Darko, you idiot."

"You're an idiot," I muttered under my breath.

"Come again, Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Nothing."

"I could've sworn I heard you say something."

"Just your imagination."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"You're an idiot."

"Am not!" I replied defensively.

"You sound like a 5-year old," she giggled as I blushed in embarrassment.

"So annoying," I muttered as she grinned at me and settled her head onto my chest.

I was relieved that our group had taken my news well and even more so that they would be together for the time being, so at least they weren't out alone. I still hated forcing them into a situation like this, but the alternative would be far worse. Sakura and I would be staying in this safehouse for the time being while Ibiki, Jugo, and Suigetsu worked from behind the scenes to locate Akatsuki members. The Akatsuki had made their first move with Deidara and Sasori, and that move failed because of me and the emerald-eyed woman beside me. Sasori had said that the next Akatsuki members worked in a pair, but that was our only clue for now. We had no faces to go off of, which will definitely prove difficult, but I was never expecting anything to be easy.

For now, all Sakura and I could do was simply wait together and be on the lookout in case any of Kakashi's cops spot anything, so that's what we're doing. Nonchalantly watching films while there's a killer gang after us is the best way to waste time, after all.

* * *

 **This'll be the last update until vacations starts since I have Finals coming up, but things will definitely get interesting in the next chapter!**


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